Absolved
by kaligoddess
Summary: Set after Deadly Alliance - Frost awakens alone and must make her way home and find forgiveness.
1. Default Chapter

AN – Sorry my pets. I dare say I forgot all about you. But for an apology, I present the whole of Absolved that I neglected to put up, rebetaed by FlawlessVictory.

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Prologue

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Sub-Zero crept slowly over the ice-covered hallways, unsure of what he had stumbled into. Even as far as he was into Outworld, it felt like...home.

He glanced down at the body of his student, limp in his arms. A familiar ache rose up in his chest and he took a deep, shuddering breath. Why had she taken the Dragon Amulet? He would have gladly given it to her when the time came.

She looked too peaceful, not a bit like the spit-fire she had been in life. Most ice elementals tended to be calm and cold, but no matter what the outward manifestation of her element was, she was a fire spirit at heart.

Without a mark on her cold body, it looked more like she was sleeping, resting, rather than she had killed herself. The fine blood vessels in her face had burst from the frostbite, but other than that her beauty was as unmarred in death as it had been in life. A true Sleeping Beauty...with no one to wake her.

There was a bright light up ahead, refracting down the corridor through the ice. Unable to shade his eyes because of the burdens he carried, he settled for squinting. The hall opened up into a chamber, brilliantly lit by a crystal set in the ceiling, and filled with carved stone.

Beautiful armor lay on the top of the stone platforms, marking what he suspected were sarcophagi. Gently, he laid his student down on the nearest platform and carefully pulled the armor from the stone lid, accidentally nudging the cover off slightly, exposing... nothing. Emptiness. No body lay in this tomb.

There were bodies frozen in the niches lining the walls, perhaps the owner of this tomb was watching them from behind the ice. There wasn't a sense of disturbance or anger; whoever was meant to be laid to rest in the sarcophagus would not be angry his tomb was disturbed. Hopefully he wouldn't mind it being appropriated for someone else, because this would be a suitable place to lay his student to rest, a place where her body wouldn't be disturbed.

Burying her felt like burying a part of himself. He had such high hopes for his best student, but now all his plans had crumbled to dust. All students eventually tried to test themselves against their masters...but it was Frost's misfortune to have taken on something she could not possibly hope to defeat.

A sigh came from his lips, and the grandmaster kissed her smooth forehead before sliding the stone back over her cold form. He wanted to leave before he was too grieved to continue. Stopping for but a moment to take the armor that once marked the tomb he strode from the chamber, his footsteps echoing from the walls.


	2. One

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Chapter One

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In the beginning, there was nothingness.

The only sound was Frost's rasping breath in the dark. It was cold, more than freezing as she shook uncontrollably in a mixture of fear and shivers.

The last thing she remembered was the horrified look on her sifu's grizzled face as he desperately tried to save her from herself, but he was too late. It had felt like ice water was pumping through her very veins as her own powers overtook her, cold enough that it hurt, terribly, as she watched the world blur. The ice had come from within her own body and power, freezing her from the inside out, consuming her as she stood frozen, helpless.

Then there was nothing but the cold and her own terrified thoughts.

Now, it seemed she was awake again, cold and alone in the blackness, but decidedly alive. She was lying on her back, on something hard, and the texture under her bare fingertips suggested that it was stone. There was more of it on both sides, close enough that she could only move a few inches. Sitting up merely brought her forehead into painful contact with the same material, and she rubbed her sore head ruefully, wondering where she was and how on Earth she got there.

The stone above her was nearly unyielding, but when she pushed with all the strength her awkwardly bent arms could produce, the slight scraping noise told her it wasn't one solid piece. Maneuvering her legs up as best she could, she pushed with all her might, but with no visible effect. There wasn't even a crack. She had to admit the shivering of her limbs wasn't augmenting her efforts, but she pushed again, and again, and again, more from fear than hope.

Finally, the top cracked slightly, and she let go of the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. The light streaming in was brilliant, almost blinding her, but it still didn't illuminate the entire space. But she saw enough to see her confines for what they were…no one ever wanted to be on the inside of one, no matter if they realized everyone would have their turn in a coffin. Was I dead? she pondered, as her stomach twisted with a sickening lurch. She swallowed back the urge to vomit and renewed her efforts to break free.

After several minutes of frantic pushing, she managed to clear a few inches of the lid. A few moments later, she squeezed through the space she created, and she blinked at the brilliant light of the room, standing half in, half out of an elaborately carved tomb. As her eyes adjusted to the bright light, she saw the entire room was filled with carved sarcophagi, all on low platforms. It was clearly a burial chamber…and quite an ornate one at that.

The pristine stillness of the space was unnerving, and she immediately felt like an intruder. She stepped shakily down onto the platform her tomb rested on, and sat down heavily, her wobbling legs failed her. She was still shaking all over, although she would have claimed it was from the cold or exertion rather than fear of whether there was anyone watching besides statues of unfamiliar warriors along the walls. The warriors had been frozen with all their armor on, and their perfectly preserved bodies made them look ready to leapt from their icy restraints.

Her eyes continued to adjust, and she began noticing more of the chamber. She realized the light was so strong because it was streaming in from a large crystalline structure high in the massive ceiling and the light was reflecting off of the ice covering almost every surface. Her first thought was that she was deep in the Ice Temple she had begun to call her home, but the space felt… foreign in a way she couldn't properly describe. Yet at the same time it seemed familiar, like she had walked into a relative's house without knowing.

There was strange chain mail armor resting on every sarcophagus except hers. It was covered in ornate dragons, jaws open to seemingly tear into any enemy that dared come close. The helmets were strange, spiked creations, with a chain mouth guard to hide the face. She slowly crawled around to the other side, but there was none there either, which brought her to another thought. Had the sarcophagus been empty, or had she been placed in a stolen tomb? What had happened to the original owner?

The hair on the back of her neck stood up-and so did she, backing away as fast as she could, her steps echoing off the frozen walls. They sounded harsh in the dead silence, like they would wake the others resting in their stone beds; she couldn't help but wonder if some of them hadn't been mistakenly buried like herself. The whole place felt suddenly unwelcoming, beautiful as it was. The dead should not be disturbed.

She fled the chamber, out through the carved doors and running blindly into the catacombs. If she had gotten in the burial chamber, there must be an exit, somewhere.

Her breaths were coming in great shaking gasps as she slumped against the same sarcophagus she had climbed out of. It seemed no matter which way she turned; the tombs seemed to lead her back to the same burial grounds. The halls were built like a maze, turning back against themselves, and she crossed a used path more than a few times by accident. The slick coating of ice made all the halls look the same. It was as if the dead meant to keep her there with them until she joined them permanently. She even wondered briefly in a moment of desperation if she should just crawl back into her resting place and speed things along.

But the same stubbornness that had caused her to believe at one point that she could handle the Dragon Amulet kept her going now. She didn't want to be here, didn't want to be trapped. More importantly, she wasn't ready to die, especially not after nearly succumbing to it so close in the past. But…how long ago was it?

She had to admit she didn't know. It could have been hours, days, months… There were indications that she had broken a seal of ice in her struggles, but she didn't know how fast it had accumulated, nor how it got there. Someone could have made it, the same way she and Sifu could. Were the sarcophagi sealed with ice? Did it form? Was it meant to keep people in?

That last thought made her stop again. Had the person who buried her known she was still alive? What if it were some kind of punishment? She couldn't imagine Sub-Zero being so cruel, but if something had happened to him…

…or maybe he was that angry. She had betrayed his trust spectacularly, she had to admit, and her heart sunk. Why had she thought she could control the Dragon Amulet? She couldn't even make anything more than her simple weapons or cast an ice projectile like Sub-Zero. She had put both him and the clan in jeopardy when she snatched the amulet. They would never take her back.

She looked dejectedly down at her uniform of blue and black. She had been so proud to receive her colors, but now they just seemed to be a symbol of just how badly she screwed up. Only she and Sub-Zero were permitted to wear the blue of the ice elementals, like their forbearers. Now she had gone and done dishonor-to herself, and to her colors.

Maybe I deserved this.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to her feet once again, ignoring the insistent growling of her stomach. The hunger was gnawing angrily at her insides, but at least it let her know she was alive and distracted her from the nasty chill creeping into her bones. It felt like the cold was coming from her very core. But, there was nothing edible in the catacombs as far as she could see, just ice and stone and dead bodies. Well, maybe the dead bodies were edible, she thought, but she wasn't quite ready to go that far yet. She wasn't sure she would ever be.

The corridors were mostly featureless, just long stretches of ice-covered rock reflecting the light from the occasional larger chamber. Someone must have taken great care when carving them out, because there was no place unlit by the reflecting light. Perhaps they were also meant to confuse as well as allow passage, because traveling hall after identical hall left Frost with the sensation she was trapped. No matter which way she turned, she couldn't help but feel she had gone that way before. It was certainly disorienting, to say the least.

In Frost's opinion the stillness and quiet was worse than getting lost. There was no movement besides her, no noise besides her own steps and heavy breathing and the occasional clattering of her teeth. It felt like she was slinking around in a sacred place more than she was escaping possible death. She would have given anything for a companion, even a furious Sifu. Just someone…anyone…alive.

It was then she caught the flash of light and felt the cold bite of steel in the soft flesh under her chin, as a figure in black and blue rounded the corner and thrust a spear at her. The armed warrior had made no noise, and she wondered if she had been followed or just come upon. She tried to form her kori daggers in defense, but she felt no power running through her hands, no chill running through her veins. The only cold was the vestiges of the freeze from the Dragon Amulet. Whatever power she had was gone, and she faced her attacker unarmed.

She raised her hands slowly, attempting to be as non-threatening as possible as she eased her head up and off of the blade itself. A few scarlet drops slid down the spearhead and splashed on the ice below as both adversaries watched. They froze as soon as they hit the cold ground, glittering like rubies against the pristine ice.

The spear wielder was regarding her coldly with ice-blue, almond shaped eyes, and the contrast between the vicious gaze and the height disparity would probably have been amusing in a situation that wasn't possibly life or death. Frost had to look down several inches to meet the gaze of the petite woman threatening her life, adding an odd visual power struggle to an otherwise cut and dry control contest. However, she had learned long ago not to underestimate someone smaller, especially a trained warrior. They had a nasty tendency of being able to slip out of your reach.

As the two females sized each other up, Frost noted in quick succession the large geometric tattoo on the small forehead and several piercings on the woman's face. Her long, black hair was tied back in a queue that fell far below her waist, and there were a multitude of scars on her neck and shoulders that were too regular to have been inflicted in battle. If she had to hazard a guess, Frost would have said that this was a masochist, not the kind of person she wanted to go up against-masochists had an unsettling tendency to rarely give up.

The woman was dressed in loose clothing-a blue short-sleeved tunic and baggy, black pants, complemented by a pair of thick sandals. They were clearly designed for ease of movement, but the fabric looked thin and not suited for keeping in warmth. It seemed to be an odd outfit for such a cold place, but she showed no signs of feeling the freezing air. Maybe this woman carried the same abilities she had discovered within herself, perhaps…

But none of the arctic-dwelling cultures Frost knew of dressed like that, and she found herself at a loss as to where this woman came from. If she came from one of the Earthrealm native tribes she would have dressed warmly by custom, wouldn't she?

Finally, Frost spoke, as calmly as she could manage under the circumstances. "I don't mean any harm." But the strange woman had no reaction except to prod the spearhead a little higher, making Frost rise up on her toes to avoid the tip from sinking farther into the soft flesh between her jaw bones. Her heart was starting to race as her list of viable things to do rapidly shrank to surrender and die. This woman meant business and she didn't seem too inclined to negotiate. "Can you understand me?" she asked with a desperate tinge to her voice.

There was no response again, but there was an almost thoughtful look in the icy, almond eyes. Then, as suddenly as the spear was forced into Frost's face, it was pulled away, and the woman circled her slowly, watching carefully for any signs of movement. Frost did her best to be as still and calm as possible, not wanting to find the speartip buried where it would do more damage. A less than gentle prod in the small of Frost's back knocked her off balance, and she stepped forward with a small, "Oof."

The pressure remained, and she took the hint and continued walking, taking care to keep her hands visible, as shaky as they were. The black-haired warrior still wasn't talking though, and merely signaled to Frost that she wanted her to turn by hitting her hard on her left hip with the butt of the spear, almost immediately earning Frost's complete animosity. No one treated her like that, not even Sifu-and he had the power to turn her inside out if he wanted to. But the thought of Sub-Zero only made her sigh again in disgust of herself.

She didn't understand why this woman was being so overly hostile. It wasn't as if she had been caught peeing in one of the graves or looting the coffins. Well, maybe the woman thought she had stolen the missing armor, but wouldn't it have been obvious that she didn't have it now? It didn't seem fair to be treated like a criminal when all she had done was wake up in the wrong place. This little warrior was rapidly gaining on her list of people to hurt, earning a place just slightly lower than that bitch, Sonya…

Another sharp pain in her left side told her to turn again, and she forced herself to keep going and not turn around and ram that spear up its owner's nose. She wasn't sure she could take the little warrior without a weapon of her own and try as she might, the familiar tinge of cold just wasn't forming in her hands. It wasn't quite clear what had happened to her kori powers, but she suspected it had something to do with the Dragon Amulet. In any case, she didn't want to face down an angry, malicious, and armed opponent without them. At least this idiot might even be leading her out of the catacombs.

The continual prodding was driving her mad though, and she hoped they would find the sunlight soon so she could ditch the spear bearer and find some heat. She hadn't been this cold since the first night she had discovered her kori abilities years ago, and even then the feeling had gone away in hours. Walking through the cavern here felt like she was walking through a meat freezer.

They came to a halt in front of a wall in one of the larger burial chambers, and stood beneath a blue banner with a curved script Frost couldn't read. The spear was jabbed into the back of her knee, and she bent it quickly as she was forced to kneel down. The steel pointed at her face was more eloquent than any "stay still" could ever have been, and she remained silent and motionless as the woman pushed aside the lid of the nearest tomb easily and beckoned her to it.

Coming closer, Frost could see that the lid was hollowed out on the inside and covered in scrapes. It seemed used to being removed and thrown about. Hesitant as she was to be forced into another coffin, Frost peered inside the stone vessel and was reassured by a visible man sized hole with a ladder beneath. This was why she hadn't been able to find the exit. But why hide the tombs so well? She knew the Egyptians did that for their pharaohs, but somehow, she didn't think she was lost over there.

The woman was glaring at her, obviously annoyed that her captive wasn't moving fast enough. When I get out of this, I'm shoving that spear through her chest, Frost thought with equal malice, but climbed slowly into the sarcophagus and grabbed hold of the rungs. They were startlingly cold on her fingertips. She had forgotten what ice felt like before she had begun to control her fa jing. She had barely touched the bottom when the diminutive stranger jumped down after her (not even bothering to use the ladder,) and landed neatly with only the slightest of sounds.

A beam of light broke through the hall ahead, and the stranger prodded her towards it. There was a gentle breeze running through the corridor too, and Frost's heart leapt at the promise of fresh air, even if it was chilly. Her captor seemed to feel the same way and hurried her along, until a clear opening in the hall came into view, which Frost was only all too eager to head through.


	3. Two

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Chapter Two

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Frost could just make out a large collection of buildings across the sparkly snowfield they faced-all low to the ground, and not all that impressive. It wasn't a particularly welcome view, but the hint of smoke in the distance promised warmth, and that was enough for her.

They seemed to be in some sort of valley between the mountains, and she had to admit it was all very scenic despite the bitter cold. There was no time to enjoy it, though, and she found herself forced out into the thick snow where she immediately sunk in to her knees. It wasn't light, fresh snow either, but wet and old, crumbling randomly beneath her feet and making trudging ahead difficult. She was sure her feet were completely frozen through, too, or at least she couldn't feel them anymore. In any case they weren't stinging from the chill, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

She was being forced towards the village in the distance, and if it wasn't for the thought of a nice, warm fire suddenly crossing her mind, she might have tried to turn back. If her captor was this aggressive, she didn't want to think about what a whole group of them would be like. They were probably all warlike and vicious, and she had mental images of tribal warfare and enemy raids popping up in her head.

As they came closer, she made out several concentric rings of buildings, and she had plenty of time to study them as she broke a path, cursing at the snow tumbling into the tops of her boots. The outer buildings were squat and had thatched roofs; they looked a lot like the houses of medieval England shown in her old textbooks.

There was a small party of travelers coming to the village from the east, and she could just barely see the beast they carried on a pole between them. It wasn't a large animal, probably the last of the beasts that hadn't gone on to hibernate from the wicked cold. The figures seemed bigger than her captor as well; probably they were bundled up against the cold. Apparently not all of them were as fond of the chill as the woman behind her.

There was no wall surrounding the hamlet, so it was very unlikely that villagers felt threatened by outside attack. They probably weren't as warlike as she had first imagined. Frost began to wonder if she was being brought in because she seemed to be a threat, or because she was an oddity. The lack of footprints in the snow made it clear the village was not a hot bed for visitors- she realized there weren't any other footprints leading from the tomb at all.

She was slowing down unconsciously as her mind wandered, and the thud of the spear against her ribs jolted her out of her thoughts. She had to get out of this; if only to beat that bitch upside the head with her own spear. Entertaining ideas of what else she could do with the sharp implement brought her a few minutes of relief from the boredom of this forced march.

As the village loomed larger, she began to question her choice of not fleeing when she had the chance, even with the spear digging into her back muscles. There were several more warriors around the village, looking bigger and meaner than the one prodding her forward, and there was quite a commotion as they spotted her. The few grew to many as they approached, and all seemed quite excited to see a stranger.

It was a decidedly eclectic bunch, some were dressed like her captor in light clothes and no sleeves, some wore fur and bulky clothes, some had facial tattoos…but all were gesturing animatedly as they jabbered on. They were staring openly, and Frost found herself blushing despite her blue lips and cheeks. Apparently she was quite an attraction.

When they finally made it to the village and passed through the crowd, she noticed something she hadn't been able to see from a distance-they were all very short. She was as tall as the largest man there, and she towered over the rest by several inches. Another look revealed they were all rather barrel-chested too, built to keep and reserve heat.

"I've been captured by a bunch of midgets…" she grumbled to herself, glaring angrily at the curious bystanders. They seemed delighted by her anger though, a few children shrieking and running to hide behind their elders' legs, and she felt more and more like a side show freak. She was almost certain she was the entertainment of the year for the village, if not the most exciting thing they'd seen in their lifetimes.

The crowd grew still larger as she was herded towards the center of the village, and she caught a few shy faces peering out from doorways and windows as they passed. Some of the younger folks ran ahead, most likely to announce their arrival to whomever was in charge. The buildings were getting larger and more ornate as they came to the center, until finally they approached a massive stone hall, with carved columns, doors, and with a small set of stairs leading up to it.

There was an important looking man standing at the top, flanked on either side by two lightly dressed, armed warriors. All three had the tattoos on their foreheads, but the older man's was much more ornate, taking up the entire space like a crown. Frost got the distinct impression this man was in charge. The other two tattoos looked like the female warrior's, like a large sun or outward spiral shape. Perhaps those tattoos seemed to designate status, or occupation, or some other affiliation? That would also explain why not all of the villagers bore them…

The crowd behind them appeared very agitated, although they quieted down when they saw the people on the steps begin to wait for their leader to speak. He was taking his time, staring regally down at them for a few minutes before speaking directly to her captor in a tongue Frost didn't understand, and with more ritual looking gestures than Frost would have thought strictly necessary. Whoever he was, he apparently attempted to show he was a very important person.

But then her captor responded entirely in gestures, causing Frost to begin to think the hand motions weren't entirely ceremonial. The crowd seemed to understand them perfectly, and she realized that it was more of a sign language than an accent to the spoken word. They all seemed to be fluent in whatever it was. No wonder the woman hadn't responded when she was speaking-she wasn't talking to the leader here, maybe she couldn't speak at all. Maybe she was deaf as well.

Their leader looked thoughtful for a moment, and then directed his attention to Frost, but all she would do was stare at him dumbly when he spoke to her. No matter how she tried to watch his gestures, they weren't miming his meaning at all. Looking exasperated, he called for someone or something named Min, and a mousy looking young man in disheveled clothes pushed his way out of the crowd. They had a hurried discussion before the younger one asked her a question she didn't understand. It hadn't seemed to be the same tongue the leader had been speaking.

"I can't understand you. I'm from Earthrealm. I speak English," she said slowly, enunciating each syllable. She looked at him hopefully.

There was a pause, and the man named Min smiled. "Well, you're a long way from home, aren't you?" She would have hugged him if she didn't think the idiot still standing behind her wouldn't skewer her like a kabob. He seemed quite fluent, hopefully he could explain what was happening.

"What's going on?" she asked, eager for an explanation, and just glad there was someone to talk to. It felt good to have some one she could cling to, as anti-social as she normally felt. Then again, being held against her will in a foreign village by a bunch of angry dwarves was hardly normal.

"I'm not sure. LiXue says she found you in the Honorable Traitors' Hall," Min responded, but couldn't continue as the leader spoke again. He listened carefully and then translated for her. "Honorable Wei wants to know what you were doing in the Traitors' Hall."

"I don't know…" Frost said, in complete truthfulness. "I woke up in a coffin and couldn't find my way out."

Min looked at her, obviously contemplating whether or not to believe her before he relayed the information to his higher up. Honorable Wei didn't look like he should believe her either. All seemed completely confused by her response and the crowd started murmuring amongst themselves again.

"I don't think they believe you," Min said quietly. "You don't know how you got there at all?"

"Well, I did freeze myself solid accidentally, I think maybe someone buried me thinking I was dead," she said meekly, trying to omit as much incriminating information as possible. The whole story was going to sound a little fishy no matter what she said, even if she was telling the truth for the most part. After all, omitting information was technically lying. Min relayed the information again, but the general sense of disbelief remained to no one's surprise. She wasn't sure she would have believed the story if their positions had been reversed.

"The Honorable Wei wants to know how you 'froze yourself'," Min translated for her, looking quite like he wanted to know himself. The crowd was watching her intently again, hanging onto every word like the Americans did a debate.

"There was this amulet…and I thought I could control its power, but I was wrong. And when I grabbed it my powers flared up and -" she was cut short by Min.

"Your…powers?" he asked, an eyebrow cocked.

"Yes, my kori powers, I -" she was cut off again as Min began an animated discussion with Wei. Several minutes passed as Frost waited uncomfortably trying not to look at the excited bystanders. She fervently wanted them to go the hell away and mind their own business, no matter how interesting she might be. Their staring eyes had almost made her snap before Min's conversation stopped, and the leader raised one six fingered hand as Frost tried very hard not to stare at him.

She was being held captive by a bunch of midgets with a polydactic tattooed freak for a leader and they had the nerve to stare at her? She was sure it was a cosmic injustice in the extreme, but all she could do was look disgruntled and seethe on the inside. If looks could kill, the whole village would be in flames.

He announced something to the whole crowd while Min translated quietly. "The stranger among us was caught trespassing in the Hall of the Treacherous. This is an offense punishable by death when committed by a foreigner. She claims to be one of us. If she can prove this, she will be free to go. If she does not, she will be executed for defiling the graves of the noble dead."

"One of us?" Frost asked Min, the color rapidly draining from her face. Did she really want to be one of them?

"Its simple, just use your kori powers," Min said. "That's what we're known for."

"I can't. They don't seem to work anymore," she hissed.

"You didn't tell me that!" Min protested.

"You didn't ask! Now what am I going to do?" she asked.

"I suggest you try really hard to suddenly remanifest them," Min said. Suddenly taking on a grim look, he then muttered, "We are also known for our unique and exquisitely painful forms of execution."

Everyone was watching her expectantly, but not everyone looked like they were hoping she would succeed. She stepped nervously forward, vaguely worrying about stage fright and performance anxiety; it was always harder to produce something on demand. If there was a way to stall for time, she didn't know it, and there were too many citizens to run from. It looked she was going to have to do or die.

She concentrated on her inner power, trying to separate the cold emanating from inside from that seeping in from without. The only way she could describe the sensation was it was like a pulling one specific string from a tangle. From the outside of the knot the strings look inseparable, but with careful tugging, one could be freed.

Her heart was pounding in her ears, drowning out all other sounds, but she was so inside herself she wouldn't have known if the entire world fell away. The cold was becoming one with her again, starting to equalize and push out from her core as well as be pulled from the air. It was like the moment when a cold pool suddenly didn't feel cold any longer, just enjoyable.

Then, it was if she suddenly grasped the right thread, and she felt the power surge through her fingers and she focused it into a blade. She saw it in her mind's eye, glistening wetly in the cold sunlight, edge glinting sharply, ready to slit the throats of her enemies. But the thread slipped away almost as quickly as it came, slipping through her fingers like water.

She opened her eyes and found everyone staring at her in a violate mix of awe, disbelief and disappointment. Min looked quite pleased; although the warrior who had captured her, Frost thought Min had called her LiXue, was clearly annoyed she had succeeded. Wei just regarded her suspiciously, and mumbled something to the guards, who scurried off to do his bidding, and nodded at Min and LiXue before heading into the building. The crowd took this as a signal to disperse, knowing they couldn't follow, still arguing amongst themselves. LiXue stomped up the steps and followed Wei inside-but not before giving Frost a look that would melt steel. Apparently she hadn't expected this to continue on for so long, and she blamed it on her captive.

"What…just happened?" Frost asked. She felt like a little kid lost in a room full of adults, she had no idea what was going on, just what Min chose to bring down to her level.

"Well, they decided not to execute you," Min answered, looking quite pleased with himself. He had taken an acute interest in her well being for a reason she couldn't figure out immediately. "But they still don't know what to do with you. They're not very fond of foreigners."

"And you are?" Frost asked. He was definitely trying to differentiate himself from the other villagers to her.

"My mother was from Earthrealm," Min said with a shrug. He glanced up at the entrance to the hall with a hint of distaste.

"Oh… Are we supposed to go in?" Frost wished she understood at least a little of the tribal language. She hated when people could talk about her without her knowing, or talk about her like she wasn't there.

"Yes. You want to know what they are saying about you?" Min asked with a smile.

"No. I'm freezing and its bound to be warmer in there." She shivered violently in tandem with her words and, and without a second thought bolted for the smoky entrance.

The inside of the hall was smoky and dimly lit with torches, but Frost could still make out tapestries on the wall depicting some sort of epic battle. Half of the warriors seemed to be dressed in the armor of the warriors she had been buried with, and the others were dressed like savages. She couldn't see who was supposed to be winning.

There was a small dais at one end, and there were twelve seats on it, all occupied, arranged in a circle. There were guards stationed along the wall, but their small stature wasn't particularly intimidating. They all carried spears like LiXue had, but also had sword belts and what looked like padded leather armor on their chests and arms.

LiXue and Wei were waiting in front of the dais, talking to the persons sitting there, or rather they were being talked to. All who sat on the dais looked ancient: wrinkled, thin and gray, but authoritative nonetheless. All of them had the same ice blue eyes: like hers, like…Sifu's. Min bowed as they reached the platform, and Frost followed suit without even thinking about it.

One withered woman was speaking in a deep, raspy voice to LiXue, and by the look on her face it was a rebuke of sorts. LiXue's jaw was locked but she "said" nothing, just stood seething, muscles in her back taut like she wanted to slap the older woman and was restraining herself. Frost knew it had to be about her being brought to the village, maybe LiXue was getting yelled at for kidnapping her. It would serve her right.

Then, as if on cue it went silent, all eyes on Frost as those on the dais studied her carefully. The hair rose on the back of her neck again, and goose bumps were forming despite the warmer temperature of the room. LiXue was glaring at her, but that didn't seem to be causing her discomfort. None of the elders were talking, but they were communicating somehow, because finally the old woman who had admonished LiXue was speaking to her as Min translated quietly.

"Stranger, why did you come here?" she asked in whispery voice through Min. Her eyes were opened unnaturally wide, and Frost wasn't sure she liked what she saw in them.

"I didn't come here. I was brought here," Frost said looking down at the floor to avoid the withered woman's eyes. "I don't want to be here, I just want to go home."

The woman nodded as Min finished translating. She turned slowly to face the other elders, who each nodded their agreement to an unspoken decision separately, even though no further words were spoken. Her unearthly voice cut through the air again. "All things happen for a reason," Min said for her. "You were brought here for a reason."

Frost wasn't sure how to respond to that diplomatically, so she remained silent and waited as the elders conversed amongst themselves again, this time aloud. If she was brought to the village for a reason, she didn't think she wanted to know what it was. They didn't seem to be arguing, just discussing something, most likely whether or not she would be allowed to go, not that she would allow them to keep her there.

"It shall be as you wish," the grizzled elder finally announced. "If you truly wish to go, you shall. Fate will show us who was right."

Then she faced LiXue, "LiXue, n'ath dan faelin han." The younger woman's face turned bright tomato red and she then stormed from the hall suddenly, stomping the whole way out. She obviously didn't agree with what had been decided upon. The elder didn't call her back, simply just watched with contempt before returning to their muttering with the others. Wei looked very satisfied with the decision.

"What did she say?" Frost whispered, eager to hear what had pissed LiXue off so badly.

"LiXue has been charged with making sure you get home," Min said with a bit of a smirk.

"There's no way in hell I'm going to go anywhere with that bitch!" she insisted, a little more loudly than she meant to. "It's not like we can talk to each other anyway…how will she know where I need to go?"

Min didn't have time to answer before he, too, was spoken to by the elder. He merely nodded solemnly to whatever she said, like he was resigned to his fate. Then the crone waved her hand dismissively, and he turned back to Frost. "The language problem has been solved," he said mildly.

"You somehow got dragged into this?" she asked with a sigh.

"They've been trying to get rid of me for years. Now was probably just a convenient time."


	4. Three

* * *

Chapter Three

* * *

Frost stood at the end of the small staircase, unsure of what to do next. While she wanted to get out of the village before LiXue had a chance to follow her, she certainly didn't want to risk getting lost again in the catacombs. Not to mention the fact she had no traveling gear, no food, and she was still freezing. If she marched out of the village now, while the temperature was dropping, she'd probably end up dying somewhere out in the cold.

Min was staring up at the rapidly darkening sky thoughtful, tapping one slender finger on his pointed chin. The moon was rising rapidly opposite the pink and purple sunset, and the first stars were starting to appear in escort. He turned to her and said, "We will leave tomorrow morning, I suppose. LiXue will want to leave now, but it's too dark to do any traveling now."

"What should I do in the meantime?" Frost asked, watching the villagers close their shutters and batten down their homes for the night. Likely they would be lighting fires and snuggling down with some warm food to ward away the intense cold creeping in with the darkness. "This doesn't look like a place with a hot nightlife."

"You can come with me, if you want. But I don't exactly live in a mansion," answered Min, shrugging.

"It can't be any worse than standing out here." Actually, it sounded a lot better than standing around in the middle of a shuttered village.

"I wouldn't count on it," But Min pointed in the direction of his home and led the way through the rapidly emptying streets. Only those wearing the lighter garb still roamed the streets, probably on night guard duty. What they were guarding against, she had no idea.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Frost asked out of curiosity. "Where in Earthrealm was your mother from?"

Min seemed surprised to be asked, but answered immediately. "China originally, although she was living in Canada before she came to this village."

"Were you born here?" It was a little curious to find another Earthrealm native. She wasn't sure what realm she was in, actually, but felt a little silly asking. Maybe Min would let it slip if she kept him talking.

"Yes, my mother was pregnant with me when she waddled her way into the village," Min said, then added: "That was probably the only reason she wasn't killed. I'm still surprised LiXue didn't stab you on the spot."

"Oh, Frost said, immediately feeling bad for bringing up a touchy subject. "She's the one who taught you to speak English?"

"Yes, also Chinese and Japanese. But they haven't exactly come in very handy. It's not like there are droves of tourists stopping by the outer reaches of Outworld." Min spoke wistfully. He probably would have enjoyed practicing his language skills.

She had to snicker at the mental image of a typical middle class tourist family facing down a group of tribal warriors. "No, you don't seem to get a lot of visitors."

"No we don't, and the guards usually run off those that do show up. I'm the only one in the village that speaks anything besides Dan."

"Dan?"

"It's their word for the tribe and language. The best I can translate it to is 'us'." Min sounded disgusted at the idea.

"That's a little self-important, don't you think?" Frost asked, though she did know of a few cultures in Earthrealm that did the same.

"It gets better, if you aren't dan, then you are han. They don't even have a word for anything besides the tribal lands, it's all just 'han.'"

"You keeping using 'they', like you're not part of the tribe." Frost had noticed it before, and he was still doing it.

"Oh, I'm definitely 'han'. That much was made clear to my mother and I from the beginning. If I wasn't occasionally needed for translating, I'm sure I would have been run off into the snow the minute I could fend for myself." The bitterness nearly dripped from Min's words.

"Isn't that lovely…" Frost said, regretting lodging her foot firmly in her mouth for the second time in minutes. They turned towards one of the most dilapidated buildings in the village. Saying it wasn't a mansion was a gross understatement, she wasn't even sure if one could call it a house. It was situated on the very edge of the village, and all the homes in the vicinity looked ready to tumble down.

Apparently they had come to the ghetto part of the village.

The door wasn't locked, but Min quickly explained that he hadn't anything worth stealing. Min must have seen her look of disgust as he pushed open the door and stepped into the cramped room, because he said, "There are actually advantages to living out here."

She couldn't imagine what they could possibly be as she looked around the tiny space. There was almost no furniture, just a low, uneven table with some sort of leather cushion, and a small bedstead half hidden by a patched curtain printed with a geometric pattern. A collection of dishes and utensils were stacked on a plank of wood hammered into the wall. The floor was dominated by a shallow pit, filled with ash and kindling. The only welcoming thing about the place was the pile of scrolls almost completely covering the table, threatening to roll off onto the dirt floor.

Min crossed his home and drew a piece of flint down from the shelf and set about lighting a fire as he spoke. "For one thing, most of us out here aren't deaf."

"Living in the center of town makes you deaf?" Frost asked, arching one eyebrow. It sounded like the places in America where they built towns over nuclear waste dumps and the children born there all had stumps for arms or some equally disturbing deformity.

"No, but those living in the center of town are obsessed with status and bloodlines. They've been marrying into each others' families for a bit too long." Min smiled. "You could say that their marriage choices have been shrinking."

"Ah, gotcha."

"Their gene pool used to be a lot bigger from what I understand. There was some sort of huge civil war before I arrived here. No one wants to talk about it though, but I get the feeling the tombs have something to do with it." He looked thoughtful again, and nearly burnt himself as the fire finally took to the kindling.

"That reminds me, why is it called the 'Honorable Traitor's' Hall? That's a bit of an oxymoron, isn't it?" Frost asked, remembering the name from the conversations earlier that day.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. No one will talk about it, and there's nothing written about it in any of the scrolls I've seen." Min frowned. "It is an odd thing to call burial grounds though."

"So they're covering whatever it is up. Or at least they want to pretend it didn't happen." Frost said, sure that there was something larger behind the name.

Min shrugged. "I don't know, but they don't like anyone asking about it. Tea?" He held up a small pot, and Frost's stomach answered for her, growling loudly. "Perhaps something more filling then?" he asked with a grin.

"God yes!" Her mouth started watering at just the thought of getting something to eat. "I don't know when I ate last."

"Well, LiXue isn't known for being the most gracious of hostesses in any circumstance," Min said with the air of a gossip.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? I'd be more impressed if you told me she had lots of friends and admirers," Frost could be as catty as the best of them if she let herself go. She couldn't think of a single reason to hold herself back concerning the diminutive warriors.

"Oh, but she does," Min said, with a conspiratory air about him. "But word is she's ignored all of them. A few less conservative tribe members think she's not interested in any of the men calling on her at all."

"Really? Is there another implication that I'm missing, or am I right to assume you mean she won't be marrying anyone and popping out crotch droppings anytime soon?" Frost grinned evilly.

"She spends all her time in training with the weapons master from what I hear. Even the other female guards go home to their families sometimes. LiXue won't even leave the barracks for holidays," Min informed her with a thinly disguised smile. He didn't seem to have any lost love for the warrior either.

"Well, that's the kind of person I want to travel with," Frost said sarcastically. I just love wandering around with crazy women."

"LiXue's been farther out of the village than anyone else. Sadly, she is the best person to travel with. I haven't even been inside the catacombs," Min replied crestfallen. He started water to boil on the fire. "There aren't even any maps of anything-I mean, anything-in the village."

"So what you're telling me is no one really knows where the hell we are or where we're going?"

"Actually, I know we're somewhere in the northwestern area of Outworld, and the portal to Earthrealm is somewhere in the southeast, providing portals don't move. I honestly wouldn't know much about the portability of those things," Min said. "That's how things were when my mother wandered here, and I'd like to think that's how they remained."

He walked to the shelf again and rummaged about in the various ceramic pieces until he found a small container. "Unfortunately, this won't be the best tasting thing you've ever eaten," he commented as he dumped a handful of what looked like some form of grain in the now boiling water and stirred vigorously. The water clouded up immediately, a brownish color rising to the surface in swirls and whorls.

"I've probably had worse," Frost replied. "I could eat a brick right now if I thought I could digest it."

"It would probably taste better," Min sniffed the contents of the pot and grimaced. "I've been eating this for almost 28 years and I still haven't gotten used to it."

"What is it?" Frost asked, leaning over the fire and catching a whiff. It smelt like a cross between damp earth and burnt toast.

"A form of dried moss," Min then laughed as he caught sight of thehorrified look on her face. "You eat what you can when you live like this." He gestured towards the small space his belongings occupied.

"I've done stranger things, I'm sure, and I'll probably do worse," she tried to be tactful, but it was hard.

"How about eating moss with someone who's name you don't even know?" Min replied.

"But I know your…oh," Frost smiled despite herself, but it faded quickly. "I'm…I'm Frost…"

"You don't sound so sure of yourself," Min observed, sprinkling dried meat in the concoction boiling over the fire.

At least the meat started overpowering the dirt smell.

"I don't even know if I'm still Frost anymore…" she mumbled to herself. Maybe Frost had died when she ripped the medallion off of Sub-Zero's chest. She could barely even produce her namesake anymore. She looked up to see Min watching her intently and tried to shake herself out of it.

"Tell me more about the tribe," she demanded, abruptly, to change the subject. It wasn't much of a change, but it would have to do.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Min stirred the stew absentmindedly as he spoke.

"Tell me about the creepy old people in the big hall." Frost shuddered when she remembered them. They looked like something that belonged in a horror movie, like the Cryptkeeper's long lost family.

"Those would be the elders, and assuming what people are whispering is true, they are well over a century and a half old, and Wu is over two hundred years old." Min didn't look convinced.

"Wu?"

"The old crone giving out orders. I think she might have been alive when whatever happened, happened. I can never find her when I want to ask her about it."

"She's in charge of the village?" She looked like they would keel over and die at any minute…hardly the kind of person she would want to run her village.

"Any important decisions, yes. Wei usually takes care of the day-to-day administration." He stopped and looked down at his work. "I think it's ready now." He scooped up a glob with the spoon and it dripped in sticky clumps that made Frost's stomach twist just looking at it.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for it," she said weakly. "It looks like the oatmeal my grandma used to make me eat."

"Funny, my mother used to say the same thing," Min was regarding it in similar disgust. "The sad part is everyone ends up eating this in the middle of the cold season. There just isn't much edible around here."

Frost watched him play with the sticky goo, unsure of whether to ask the question still burning in her brain. He had never come out and said it, but… "Min…what happened to your mother?"

He stopped fiddling with the spoon and watched her sadly for a moment. "I don't know," he said softly. "She never came home one day about fifteen years ago." A few moments of uncomfortable silence passed before he continued. "She had been poking around the catacombs, which is frowned upon even for the dan."

"You think she found out something she shouldn't have?" Frost asked.

"I just don't know…but yes, I think she might have been eliminated by the tribe."

She didn't press the issue any further, just eyed their supper with a look of uncertainty, while Min watched her with a hint of amusement. "Maybe I can hold my nose…"


	5. Four

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

She wandered out into the practice hall, but no one was there. It was still five minutes early and normally the Lin Kuei would already be gathering, but there wasn't a soul in sight. Someone should be there, stretching and trying to show off what they had learned the day before. There weren't even any novices running through to their morning practice, a common occurrence.

No one roamed the halls either and concerned, she rushed past door after door leading to empty rooms. With so many people in the temple, it seemed impossible for them all to be someplace at once, and they certainly wouldn't all have gathered some place when it was clearly time for the morning exercises. Sifu insisted they do it together every morning, he thought it would help bring them altogether or some such nonsense.

She could hear footsteps behind her, but when she turned around there was nothing there but the still hall. Could they be on the floor above her? The walls were too thick for sound to carry far, but the ceilings were thicker. But the steps were echoing, so they must be on the same level as her.

Unsure of what to do, she ran towards Sub-Zero's rooms. If he had cancelled their morning exercises, he would be there, and if something were wrong he'd still be there giving orders. Even then the footsteps followed her, never seeming to speed up. When she reached Sifu's door she lifted her hand to knock, but someone knocked on the other side first, startling her.

And then she was waking up on the small table she had curled up on, still wrapped in the curtain that formally separated the main room from the sleeping space. It wasn't nearly as effective a blanket as she would have hoped, but at least it was something. Min was snoring softly on his palette, oblivious to the commotion at his door. The knocking continued. "Min!"

He didn't even stir. "Min, someone is knocking." But he still lay like the dead until she crossed the dirt floor to shake him. He awoke with a start, but dutifully staggered over to the door and opened it to find Wei's soldiers standing there. He stared at them in a stupor for a few moments before one of them spoke.

They had a quick conversation that ended with the two warriors thrusting a large, bumpy bundle at Min and storming off, clearly not happy to be awake while it was still dark out. Min looked quite displeased himself. "We're leaving soon," he said simply, handing her part of the bundle. "These are for you." He staggered back to his things to start packing.

She unrolled the fabric carefully and it turned out to be a pair of loose, black pants and a blue, thick-knit tunic. Unlike LiXue's, this one had long sleeves that came down over her hands when she held it up to her chest. She'd have to work on that. It wasn't the most attractive outfit she had ever seen, but it looked warmer than what she was wearing, and a lot less noticeable. There was also an ugly hat made out of some kind of tawny fur and a muff for her hands made out of what seemed to be the same animal. There was even a pair of hideous black boots, but they looked like they were lined in fur to keep the snow out. Someone seemed concerned for her well-being, even if they didn't have any fashion sense.

Min was busy storing the contents of his pots in pouches and stuffing them in a larger backpack. Atop them went his cooking pots and the flint, which he tied shut with a piece of string so it didn't set his pack aflame. "Don't turn around," she called and quickly stripped and changed into the other warmer outfit, debating on whether or not to take her Lin Kuei uniform with her. It felt wrong to just leave it in this awful place, but she didn't want to be carrying around a reminder of her failure the whole way.

Min was rolling up his bedding with the former curtain when she turned around. "…you're packing like you're moving out," she said.

He stuffed the bedding into the top of his pack and carefully added a few scrolls. "I am." Nothing was left but the empty pots, the bare furniture, and the floor cushion, which he promptly snatched up. "What is there for me here?" he asked, putting on a tattered looking over-robe. He looked over the empty room with an air of satisfaction.

There was no obvious answer, so she settled for asking, "Where will you go?" She began rolling up the pieces of her uniform angrily.

"Who knows?" Something in Min's voice sounded desperate enough for her to be worried.

"That doesn't sound like a very good plan." It may have worked for the hippies, but it probably wouldn't work for an Outworlder.

"I'll stay in Earthrealm, I guess. I might have family there. In any case, the food can't be any worse, right?"

"You wouldn't say that if you had some of the fast food I've had." It didn't look like he would change his mind. "I'm certainly not going to stop you, you're supposed to go to Earthrealm with me anyway."

"Yes, all the more reason to extend my stay. Do you really think I want to travel back with LiXue?" Min gave her such a look of mock horror that she had to laugh, breaking the tension. He did have a good point there.

"Point taken."

"Wonderful, but we have to get out of here." He nudged her towards the door, lugging his pack as he went.

LiXue was pacing impatiently in front of Wu, Wei and a few guards when they arrived at the southern edge of the village. They were standing in a sort of circle, the guards huddled together for warmth. A few curious villagers had gathered too, but most of the tribe was still asleep in their warm beds in the early morning darkness.

LiXue was dressed in warmer clothes as well with a sturdy looking pair of boots instead of her usual sandals. A large, lumpy pack lay at her feet, with the sandals neatly tied to the side, with another pack nearby. Two spears were stuck into the ground next to her, and Frost spotted a whip coiled from a hook on her waistband and a dagger with a dragon carved into the hilt peeking out from the top of one boot. It seemed the warrior girl wasn't taking any chances.

Wei was nearly as impatient as LiXue, but it showed only in his clenched jaw. Wu just stood sternly, watching the two newcomers arrive with her too wide eyes. She made no move to greet them, but Wei stepped forward and spoke to Min at length. Min looked grim, but said nothing.

He picked up the second pack near LiXue and handed it to Frost. It was a lot heavier than it looked. "What is this filled with, rocks?" she asked, hefting it with difficulty onto her back.

"It's our rations. You be nice to that bag or we'll all be in trouble," Min paused, then picked up one of the spears. He held it awkwardly away from his body. "Can you use one of these?"

"Theoretically speaking, yes I can. I've never actually used one in a real fight though." She handled it warily, but it acted like it was properly weighted, even if the length was more flexible than she would have liked. It was an excellently formed weapon, just not one she would have chosen if given the run of an arsenal. "Don't you get a weapon?"

"I'm not much of a fighter, actually…" Min blushed. "They refused to train an outsider, so the only things I know I picked up by watching."

Next to them, LiXue shouldered her pack and grabbed the other spear. After examining its point, she nodded curtly to Wei and made an unmistakable "let's go" gesture to the other travelers. Not waiting for a response, she turned her back on the village and started ploughing through the wet snow.

Min took one long, last look at the village and turned to follow her. He didn't seem too sure of himself now that the time to leave had finally come. Frost didn't even look back as she fell in line behind him. At last she was heading home.

"Does LiXue have any idea where we are going?" she asked as the village faded into the distance. It seemed to be a case of the blind leading the blind if what Min had said about the village's geographical skills was true.

"For now, yes," Min answered. "She knows her way through the catacombs better than any of the other guards. Most of them won't even go in there."

"She just knew the secret exit, that's all." She was reluctant to give the cranky woman any credit at all. Anyone could find their way through a secret tunnel if they knew where it was.

"That's still better than either one of us. I've never seen the inside, and you were lost from what I understand." Min wasn't going to let her off that easily.

The mountains grew steadily larger as they walked in silence. They had no snow on their peaks, a fact that surprised Frost, she hadn't noticed it before. When they came closer, she had to admit that she couldn't tell which one of the many cave mouths they had emerged from the day

before until LiXue disappeared into a particularly unassuming one.

Min, Frost noted wryly, looked absolutely delighted at the prospect of seeing the catacombs first hand and pulled out a blank scroll and a length of graphite as they climbed up the ladder and out of the false coffin. He hastily scribbled down the writing on the wall hangings as LiXue glared at him. He ignored her completely and finished up his transcribing with a happy flourish.

"Can you translate that?" Frost asked when they started up again.

"I hope so. Its not like the script the villagers use, but I might be able to pick it up," Min was so excited he could barely speak straight. She hadn't seen anyone this excited about a bunch of words since the last Harry Potter book had come out. "This could finally tell me what happened."

"That's good, I suppose," she ignored the angry stare LiXue fixed her with and looked around the chamber with the same sense of apprehension she had felt earlier. Something just wasn't right in the catacombs. Graveyards were usually peaceful, this place seemed agitated somehow, hopefully not from their trespassing.

Finally, Min tucked his transcription into the front of his robe and smiled cheerfully at Frost, practically skipping over to her and their companion, much to LiXue's obvious annoyance. He would have succeeded better in his bouncy step if he hadn't been sliding all over the place as he went. He just didn't have the natural grace of a fighter.

LiXue just spun on one heel with an audible huff and started off again at an overly quick pace as Frost and Min tried to keep up. Min nearly had to be dragged along, as he lacked the footing on ice that the two kori powered women had. He eventually figured out that if he slid along the ice like an ice-skater without equipment he fared better than his attempts at picking up his feet.

The journey through the catacombs was very uneventful with the only breaks from the monotony being Min's yelps of glee when he spotted what he thought looked like an interesting inscription on a tomb they passed. Watching him skid over to it like it was some sort of prize was amusement enough for Frost, but LiXue got visibly irate at the frequent stops. She did nothing but stomp her feet and wait with arms crossed grumpily across her breasts, a scowl plastered against her face.

It felt an awful lot like Frost's family vacations if you substituted a hyperactive six-year-old for Min and her bitchy older sister for LiXue.

All that was needed was someone asking "Are we there yet?" over and over

again. Well, that, and lots of threats that they were going to turn around and go home if they didn't start behaving.

"What are you smirking about?" Min asked, startling her out of her musings.

"My family," she replied. "…They probably still think I'm in China right now."

"I take it you weren't entirely truthful with them on where you were going," Min said with a smirk of his own.

"Actually, I told them where I was going, it was the "why" part I was creative about. Would you let your daughter go off to become a ninja?"

"…I'm not all that good with Earthrealm culture, but aren't ninjas Japanese?"

"Well, the Chinese version of a ninja then."

"So you're a Chinese ninja?"

"You know, it's not like you're going to tell anyone. I belonged to the Lin Kuei."

"Forest Demons? That's rather poetic. I'm more interested in your use of the past tense though."

She sighed unintentionally and tried hard not to blush. "I screwed up pretty badly, she said, flush creeping up her neck. "I doubt they'll really want me back."

Min was silent, but she could tell he was clearly itching to ask more questions. In the meantime, LiXue was tapping her foot in annoyance at the end of the tunnel. They must have slowed down while talking. As they hurried to catch up, Frost could see no visible continuation of the tunnel around the female warrior. She checked the ceiling for signs of a trap door, but it looked like solid ice and stone. It looked like the impatient woman had led them straight to a dead end.

But LiXue then merely slipped behind the rock wall behind her, giving away the optical illusion. The two side walls hid the small opening quite effectively, making the eye see them as a continuous line. Frost

followed her into the small sideways passage that quickly curved to open into an airy cave with a wide mouth.

Min let out a sigh of relief. "No more ice!"

"No more creepy tombs," Frost added. "And no more scary woman."

Min was ignoring her though; he was quite occupied by their surroundings, unremarkable as they were. There was still snow covering the flat ground, but only a few inches' worth. The whole area was very nearly featureless, just flat stony land interrupted by the occasional plateau. It wasn't very interesting at all, in Frost's opinion, but she had seen a lot of different landscapes in the last few years.

She let Min enjoy his first trip out of the village and plopped down to rest her aching feet. The new boots kept her feet warm, but at least when they were nearly frozen they didn't hurt. It was a surprise to see LiXue sit down not far away and stretch her legs out in front of her. The shorter woman seemed like the kind of person who would turn around as soon as possible once the mission was finished.

Min came to rest beside Frost as she mused. "Do you think she'll come with us?" Min asked, handing her a chunk of dried meat.

She hadn't realized she was even hungry until she bit into the chewy morsel. It was like trying to eat meat-flavored rubber. "I hope not. Weren't her orders just to take us 'outside'?"

"That's one way to interpret them," Min said mildly before waving at LiXue and signing something to her.

"Well?" Frost asked.

"She says Wei told her to make sure you arrived home safely," Min reported.

"She's going to follow us the whole way?"

"It looks like that. It could be worse."

"Don't say that…I feel jinxed enough as it is."


	6. five

* * *

Chapter Five

* * *

After the fifth day of doing nothing but eating, hiking, and sleeping, Frost began getting a sense of déjà vu. The whole trip was starting to blend into some sort of monotonous blur of boredom and simple tasks. The landscape was still as uninteresting as the daytime activities, just rock, dust and the occasional dead plant decorating their path. At least the snow was mostly gone and the temperature was warmer. The whole mess just made her frustrated with what life had handed her.

Even Min was getting on her nerves. She found herself getting snippy with him when he kept pestering her with questions about what Earthrealm was like until he fell silent. He was, rather uncharacteristically, brooding as well, meaning she had to deal with pouting on one side and fuming on the other. She regretted losing her only real means of entertainment.

She desperately wished for something, anything to happen.

It was LiXue who first felt like something was wrong, and Frost watched her checking the perimeter of their makeshift camp with mild amusement. Min had his nose buried in the strange script he was attempting to transcribe, even as he stirred the pot containing their evening meal, the cave they were residing in could have fallen on his head and he wouldn't have noticed. He was preparing the same mixture of soupy grain and dried vegetables they had been consuming the whole time since the journey began… frankly, she would have given her left arm for a candy bar.

"Could you ask her to stop doing that?" Frost asked as LiXue paced back and forth around the entrance to their cave. It looked as if she was going to wear a path into the stone. "It's making me nervous."

"Hmmm?" Min finally looked up from his writings. "If you get her attention, I will."

She shot him a dirty look but stood up anyway. Her place in front of the fire was actually quite comfortable, even if it made her butt fall asleep, and she was in no mood to leave it. The cave's mouth was colder than the rest of the area, and she would have been more than happy to just tap the pacing warrior on the shoulder and hurry back to the warmth of the fire, but then a hint of movement in the distance caught her eye. It was gone in an instant, leaving her to wonder if she had actually seen anything. No matter how much she strained her eyes, nothing else appeared.

…maybe it was best to let LiXue keep a look out after all. When the warrior looked over to her, she did nothing but nod and pretend she had just gotten up to admire the view. There was nothing good in drawing LiXue away from her post if there was a chance something really was out there.

She headed back to Min, contemplating what she thought she saw. They hadn't seen anyone but each other since they had left the tribal grounds nearly a week ago, and they hadn't seen any wildlife big enough to be visible at that view. It could have just been a trick of the moonlight-the clouds were blowing quickly enough past them to create illusions.

Min was looking at her expectantly; probably curious as to why LiXue wasn't following her. "There's something out there," she said simply. "I saw it." She remained standing, trying to stretch some of the stiffness out of her legs. It also let her keep her worried face out of sight.

"It?" Min just stared at her.

"I just saw the movement," she explained. "I didn't get a good look at what it was. For all I know it could have been a lizard." It wouldn't do any good to get Min worried about what could potentially be nothing.

LiXue was pacing even more anxiously now; they could see her silhouette in the waning light. "You think a lizard is making her that nervous?"

"No. I'm just trying to rationalize this so I'll be able to get some sleep." She had drawn third watch, which meant she would manage to get at least some concurrent rest, but it would make tomorrow a very long day. Especially if she stayed up all night worrying about something that might well have been a figment of her imagination. She'd rather just chalk it up to a leaf blowing about catching the starlight at just the right moment.

"It was probably just something blowing in the wind," Min said with a shrug. "If anything is out there, I'm sure she…" he pointed at the figure still marching, " …will take care of it."

Both LiXue and Min were asleep when she woke up, surprising her completely. She would never have expected LiXue to abandon her post like that. And if it were supposed to be Min's watch, she certainly wouldn't have let him sleep through it.

The warrior woman looked much less meaner when she slept. The scowl she always wore was relaxed, making her look a lot younger and more innocent. One hand was under her pillowed blanket, probably clutching at her dagger.

Min was sprawled out on his stomach, clutching one of his scrolls like it was a teddy bear. A large smudge of graphite marked his cheek and nose-most likely he had rolled over onto his work at some point.

The two of them looked quite peaceful, and she tried to be extra quiet to keep from disturbing them…not that there was much to do around the camp that would make a lot of noise. She could sit around and bang on Min's cookware, she supposed, but that would take an awful lot of explaining when she succeeded in waking them up.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned, wishing she had some coffee. Less than six hours of sleep was simply not enough for her to function on and she was happy all they had to do was walk. Her frazzled brain just couldn't handle anything more complex than that. This was the kind of stupor that usually had her pouring orange juice into her cereal and trying to brush her teeth with hand soap.

Nature was calling her, and not wanting to deal with that in the cave in case her traveling companions woke up, she slunk outside to answer. The moon was full and shining brightly, making sharp shadows where the terrain was jagged. The stars were out in full force, and she took a moment to marvel at the unfamiliar constellations. She felt a little self-conscious in the bright light, but logic told her there was no one around to see.

Another flash of movement caught her attention, and she barely caught a glimpse of a shadowy form ducking behind a small outcropping. She hastily turned back to the cave, but she couldn't find the entrance among the many cave mouths. It didn't make sense; she hadn't wandered that far away. There hadn't been that many before, she was sure of it. It would be possible to hide in another spot, but getting a warning back to the other two took precedence in her mind.

She ran to the nearest hole to check for Min and LiXue, but as soon as she moved, she heard footsteps following her. Spinning quickly, she dropped into a defensive stance, but saw nothing, not even footprints in the frost covering the rocks. .

The footsteps started again as soon as she turned her back, sending a shiver up her spine as she checked the next cave and the next after that. The footsteps sounded ever closer and closer, her heart was racing as she frantically searched for the others, calling their names even though she knew one wouldn't hear her.

She screamed as someone grabbed her arm, startling Min badly, although LiXue unsurprisingly slept right through it. He let go of her wrist and said, "You were dreaming."

"I'm glad. It wasn't a good one," she said trying to stop her limbs from quivering. She hadn't had nightmares since she was a little girl.

"I could tell. You were calling for the two of us."

"Ugh. It's just an anxiety dream I guess. I had one just like it in your house. I can't find anyone, and there are these creepy footsteps following me, but when I turn around there is no one there."

"Sounds like a ghost story."

"I think you're right. I guess I must have seen it on TV or something."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to think about it, because my watch is just about up," Min yawned loudly and stretched. He looked like he was ready to fall asleep where he sat, but he staggered to his feet and managed to get into his bedroll.

"I hope your dreams turn out better than mine." She poked the fire with one of the longer sticks. She was much more reluctant to come near the fire after Min had explained that what she had thought was some kind of charcoal was really dried animal dung. To her surprise it didn't really smell when burnt. It didn't smell any worse that their supper had, anyway.

There wasn't much to do to get ready for bed, so Min was settled down long before she got the fire going to her taste. His eyes weren't closed though, so she didn't feel bad for asking him, "Do the villagers have any ghost stories?"

A hint of a smile curved Min's lips. "Are you trying to give yourself nightmares?"

"It will give me something to think about. If I'm worried I won't fall asleep."

"Well, they don't have any real stories about ghosts, but they believe that spirits can reside in objects. There are a couple of myths about possessed statues and totems, but nothing horribly exciting. They really aren't good storytellers. The language isn't extensive enough for imaginary ideas." Min sounded a little disappointed.

"You're making them sound primitive."

Min shrugged. "They are."

"Never mind then. You can get back to your sleeping."

"Thanks ever so much for your permission." He rolled over to face the fire and pulled out one of his scrolls to mull over, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

The truth was she did want something else to think about. Sitting awake and alone in the early morning was never fun, and it was torture when you had things on your mind. She didn't want to be alone with her thoughts if they were going to be consumed by what she was going to do when she reached Earthrealm-and coming face to face with what she had done.

It was easier to worry about external problems, but it didn't change the fact she had to worry about the future.

Could she go back to a normal life after what she had been through? Or would she always be wondering what she could have down with her life as she sat in a conservative skirt, sipping coffee with non-dairy creamer, listening to some moron drone about something she didn't care about. Could she live with her life in suburbia with two point five kids in a ranch house with a picket fence? Life would certainly be a lot less exciting.

But…what if the Lin Kuei didn't forgive and forget? Would they let her live a normal life? What could she do if Sifu turned up on her doorstep?

She knew it was futile to keep running through the what-ifs, but what could she do with so little information?

The fire was burning low again, and she coaxed it back up with the stick as it cast strange shadows along the walls. One shadow stuck out, looking almost exactly like a human. Her heart racing, she spun in her seat and surveyed the area. No one was there. Just my imagination, she told herself, not believing a word of it.

A quick look at Min revealed he had fallen asleep in the same position he had been in her dream. He had a slight smile on his lips, like he was keeping a secret he was dying to tell. Likely he was dreaming of scrolls and scripts rather than shadows and eerie footsteps. He didn't act like he was worried about what would happen when they made it back to Earthrealm. It wasn't fair at all.

Then again, he didn't act worried about anything. It would be nice to be like that, but she was stuck with a nervous attitude and an overactive imagination. Being cheerful was harder work than just being paranoid. Life just wasn't something she got to smile over most of the time.

LiXue was sleeping on her stomach, spear within easy reach and a dagger no doubt tucked under the folds of blanket she rested her head on. She looked too worried about the here and the now to be troubled by what could happen in the future. Maybe that was why she wasn't interested in marriage. She was probably dreaming of some epic battle or perhaps puppy kicking. Maybe both at the same time…it was hard to tell with her.

It was going to be a long night, she decided, aimlessly poking the fire.

It was the boredom of keeping watch that always got her, and she ended up looking forward to the time she could start preparing for breakfast. Even if it wasn't the most engaging of experiences, at least it gave her something to do, not to mention the fact it never failed to wake everyone else up so she'd have someone to talk to. Of course, she would never stoop so low as to wake the others up on purpose…

"Oops." It only took a slight twitch of her wrist to send a few tiny droplets of water dripping onto Min's face. But only a few, they couldn't afford to waste the precious liquid. After they passed the snowfields they had lacked a ready water supply. He sputtered slightly and slapped at his face.

"You did that on purpose," Min murmured sleepily. He wiped the water off with the back of his hand, and tried to roll over, but she was conveniently standing in the way.

"Would I do something like that?" she asked in her best 'innocent' voice.

"Ugh, I was having a good dream too. You're just lucky I like you," Min whined. "We were all in Earthrealm and I got a job doing research."

"Funny, a research job would be a nightmare to me." Frost said, setting up a pot over the fire.

"Actually, you were living with LiXue in my dream."

"You know, this is the first time I've ever said this to anyone, but I hope your dream doesn't come true." She pointed her fire poking stick at him in mockery.

"How…nice."


	7. six

Chapter Six

She couldn't shake that awful feeling she was being watched. LiXue seemed to feel the same, because she spent half of her time walking backwards, watching their backs. The warmer temperature meant the ground was devoid of any snow, which, while making walking easier, made checking to see if someone was tracking them difficult as well.

Even Min seemed nervous, although he wasn't nearly as observant as his female companions. He nearly walked right into LiXue's back when she stopped suddenly, making a shushing gesture with one small hand. Frost crept up to her and tried to follow the shorter woman's line of sight but saw nothing. There was no overt movement, but that could just mean they had been spotted as well.

She felt a nudge in her side and realized the other woman was poking her. Once she looked over, LiXue pointed deliberately to her ear and then out towards the rocky outcropping not far ahead. Despite the language barrier, the meaning was crystal clear. Frost nodded in return and slunk forward quickly as best she could on the open ground.

Voices were coming form the other side of the rocks, gravelly voices that sounded deep and male. They certainly weren't speaking English, or any of the few tongues she could understand a little of in this realm. There was a slight mumble to them, like they were trying to talk around a mouthful of food. She listened at the base of the outcropping, waiting to at least see how many individuals she could identify even if she couldn't understand what was being said.

The speech sounded very harsh to her ears, and she wondered briefly if Min could translate it. On the other hand, somehow they didn't sound like the type of beings you'd want to ask directions from. Their voices sounded angry, but without any kind of translation she couldn't tell if they were fighting, or if it was just the language.

She thought she identified three voices, although there might have been others not taking part in the conversation. There weren't the other noises a crowd would produce, however. A slight scraping indicated LiXue had joined her, and she held up three fingers to indicate what she found, to which LiXue nodded in turn. The petite warrior brought her spear to bear and Frost followed suit, sensing a fight in the near future.

Like a human explosion, LiXue burst out from behind the stones and drove her spear through the spine of the ugliest creature Frost had ever seen. The action was completed before Frost even realized what was going on, and she charged around the corner belatedly. The remaining two bared mouths full of pointed teeth and unsheathed twin blades from their forearms as she watched in horror. Whatever they were, they belonged in a sideshow.

She ducked as one took a wild swing at her head, and she drove the butt end of the spear down hard into its kneecap with no visible result. She was forced to dive to the side to dodge a blow from the other blade. When she tried to roll to her feet, she was met with the other blade blocking her path.

The beast-man was relentless and kept pressing the attack. All she could do was duck and dodge his wild swings. She tried to block with the spear, but the creature broke it in half with a single swipe, knocking her completely off balance. Before she could regain her footing, he swung at her again, driving her back. She threw the blunt half down in disbelief and tried to recover before she literally lost her head.

LiXue seemed to be having similar difficulties, but she couldn't afford the time to pay attention to anything but the gleaming blades threatening to cut her to pieces. Now would be a good time for my kori powers to come back, she thought bitterly, having to jump back again to avoid a strike that would have gutted her like a fish.

All she could hope for was for the creature to make a small mistake and give her an opening. It was going to be a single chance because even if she went on the offensive those blades were still dangerous, and a miss or block could cost her an arm and a leg. The trick was to pick the perfect moment, and so she watched the shift of his hips carefully, waiting for him to feint.

The creature wasn't tiring at all, despite its barrage, and in comparison the lack of sleep was hindering her fighting ability, as was her missing kori power. It felt a bit like fighting with one hand tied behind her back, she couldn't rely on anything but her seriously flagging fighting skills. Her reflexes were sluggish from the sleepiness, and they both knew it.

The adrenaline flowing through her system did nothing to help; just made her heart feel like it was pounding in her ears. Her breath was coming in big gasps, but she thankfully wasn't out of wind yet. It felt like her lungs were trying to draw all their oxygen in now for fear of her drawing her last breath. She could keep time by her heartbeats; each thump was one moment closer to having her heart stop forever.

And then it felt like time itself was slowing, and the creature's movements slowed to a crawl. She watched incredulously as the creature swung at her so slowly she would have to stand still for ten seconds to not avoid it. Each swing of the blades became an easily dissected arc to dodge, each shift of its way giving her a clear indication of the direction of its attack.

After ducking under a high, slow swing, she plunged the broken, bladed end of the spear into its stomach, gutting it in slow motion. The intestines spilled out slowly, like a bad horror film as she watched absentmindedly still confused as to what had happened. When she looked up, LiXue's opponent lay on the ground, half of its face missing and its brains splattered across the rocks.

Then, as fast as the first sensation had come, it felt like reality snapped nearly back into place and the creatures blood was spurting out at a rapid pace, soaking the toes and soles of her boots. She stared incredulously down at the corpse, then at LiXue who was calmly wiping her spear off on a piece of the creature's clothes.

"What the hell was that?"

Min rounded the outcropping and grimaced at the sight. He had to be one of the most squeamish people she'd ever seen. "Those have got to be the ugliest things I have ever seen!"

"Nice of you to join us," Frost greeted him sarcastically. "We could have used some help."

"Believe me, you don't want me to 'help' in a fight," he protested. "Unless all you want is some sort of diversion. Besides, it looks like you handled it just fine." He walked over to her with a look of complete disgust twisting his features. "That's a face only a blind mother could love," he said examining the face still frozen in death in a feral grin. He touched a fang gingerly, prying the mouth open.

"What the hell is it?" she asked.

"I've never seen a picture of them before, but I've read a few scrolls describing beasts with natural blades in their arms. I think these guys were Tarkata." Min didn't look too sure of his answer.

"Tarkata?"

"Yes, they are native to Outworld, I think, and live in the Wastelands."

Frost examined the bleak surroundings. " I think we know where we are then."

There was a great deal of scuffing and scraping behind them, and they turned in time to see the first Tarkata that had been stabbed during the battle being dragged into a sitting position by a smug LiXue. Its hands were bound tightly behind it, rendering its blades useless, and its legs sagged limply. Frost reasoned it must have had its spinal cord severed, because it did not try to rise when they closed in. It still hissed angrily at LiXue, snapping at her whenever her fingers got too close to its face.

"Brave fellow, isn't he?" Min said, a twinge of sarcasm present in his voice. "I wonder if he understands us?"

"You're the translator, why don't you try to talk to him?" She gestured towards the thing and LiXue seemed to pick up on the discussion because she nodded eagerly. The smaller warrior seemed to understand a lot more than she let others know.

He tried at least five languages before he figured out that the thing understood English, surprising them all completely-but understanding and being willing to speak are two very different things. The beast kept its tongue firmly between its teeth, glaring at them with a challenge in its yellow eyes.

Frost was growing quite impatient with the whole situation. "Try a little percussive persuasion," she insisted to Min.

"Percussive persuasion?" Min asked.

"Beat the crap out of him until he says something," she replied, smacking one fist into her palm to illustrate her idea to LiXue. LiXue grinned in return and reached for the whip looped in her waistband menacingly. Frost had to admit she liked the way the warrior woman thought sometimes. At least she wasn't some sort of priss.

The beast didn't even flinch-if anything, it seemed to smile, if such a thing was possible with its grotesque features. Nothing they tried could make it talk, it just sat watching them resentfully. It didn't look like they would be getting any information from this creature. LiXue looked disturbingly disappointed that she wasn't going to have the chance to display her skills.

They left the creature bleeding its life out from its slit throat, wishing they had some place to stash the corpses. There was no cover, no place to dig in the dusty, rocky ground. Their only hope was for whoever found the bodies to blame the slashing wounds on other Tarkata, and that they wouldn't see the human-size tracks they left.

The argument still raged on where they should head next as they left the scene. "I can't see how marching into what could possibly be a landscape filled with those things is a good idea." Min protested loudly. He may have been the smartest of the three of them, but he was also the biggest coward.

"Where do you want to go then, back to the village?" Frost screamed back. She didn't like the idea very much either, but it didn't seem like there was much of a choice. "We're going to have to cross this eventually."

LiXue merely watched them yelling at each other with affected curiosity. She pretended to sharpen her spearhead at first, but eventually just gave up as the argument progressed and stared shamelessly. Her head turned to each one like she was watching a game of ping pong until Min asked her what she thought. She shrugged and merely pointed ahead, much to Frost's delight.

"I still don't think this is a good idea…" Min pouted.

"No one says it is, it's just a necessary evil." Frost was trying very hard not to gloat. Traveling was hard enough without having to deal with a sullen companion.

"I should have known better than to travel with two women," Min muttered under his breath.

No one was comfortable with traveling through the Wastelands. LiXue was twice as diligent as before, practically walking circles around them as they marched, trying to see everything at once. Every little noise was making Frost jump, and whenever she startled, LiXue had to go check it out. Min was practically clinging to her, glancing nervously around as if he expected the Tarkata to just spring up out of the ground.

It was a great relief when they finally found a plateau with a decent sized indentation in the bottom. Hidden in their tiny cave, they continued to debate the merits of their decision to travel through the Wastelands. But Min's protests got weaker as he realized neither woman would change her mind.

Frost sat staring at the broken halves of her spear, wondering how she could possibly get it back into something resembling a useful weapon. It was not like they had any tape or glue, and that wouldn't be strong enough to hold together in a fight. Her best thought was to separate the spearhead entirely and use it as a sort of awkward knife. It still hurt that she couldn't just make a weapon with a simple thought–to her, it was almost like a part of her was missing.

Her thoughts were broken by Min handing her another bit of dried meat.

"I don't think it's wise to start a fire tonight," he said, glaring at

his own piece like he was hoping it would turn into something he liked better.

"I think you are quite right." She stared at the dried meat with distaste. "The first thing I'm going to do when we get to Earthrealm is order some Chinese. And a pizza. And get some chocolate."

"Just think, I've been eating this stuff all of my life," Min said.

"I'll have to take you out on a food tour then. You've been missing a lot." Frost's mouth started watering as she thought of all the food she wanted.

"I'm sure I have." Min didn't sound quite as excited at the thought.

"And then you can go on a bookstore tour and get all sorts of books to read. And you won't have to deal with scrolls anymore." Frost was really getting into it now. The journey didn't seem as bad when she thought of things she could do when they arrived home.

"Sounds good to me." Min gave her a look that made her blush.

It will be like when my cousins came over from China and I got to show them around..." she suddenly didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"You have family in China?" Min asked.

"My dad lived there most of his childhood before my grandparents immigrated."

Min stared off into the distance, seemingly contemplating all that could happen to him in Earthrealm. "I wonder if I have any family left there."

"With all the technology they have today, I'm sure you'll be able to use it to find them if you have any."

"I wonder what LiXue thinks of all this," Min said, attempting to change the subject.

"You could ask her, you know. You do speak her language."

"I know, it's just…I feel awkward around her for some reason. Even though we came from the same village, it doesn't mean that we are automatically friends. She's only on this trip because her father sent her."

"Wait, wait, wait… her father sent her out here? Who the hell is her father?" Frost couldn't imagine anyone's father purposely sending his daughter out into danger.

"Wei." Min said simply.

"Wei is her father? How did the head honcho's daughter get sent out on a shitty mission like this?" Most of the high-class girls she knew got coddled, not sent out into the Wastelands to be chased by creatures out of somebody's nightmares.

"I get the impression that it's sort of a punishment for not being a good little girl and marrying one of the neighborhood boys." Min said, with a hint of disgust.

"Well, that explains why she acts like there's a stick up her ass." She stopped to think. She was beginning to like the village less and less.


	8. seven

* * *

Chapter Seven

* * *

Frost was absentmindedly humming despite the fact she'd been asked several times not to by Min. It wasn't that she was trying to annoy him, it was just something she had a habit of doing when she was bored. At least she wasn't humming something that would get stuck in anyone's head. She tried to remember not to do it, but after walking for a few hours…the mind just starts to go.

She was still humming when LiXue stopped suddenly in front of her. Sometimes it seemed like Wei's daughter had a sixth sense to make up for her lack of hearing. She was staring unwaveringly at a small rock with an abnormal shadow. The shadow was too large by just a bit, but their trained eyes picked it out as much as if the rock had been painted bright yellow. She pointed to Frost and to the right before she started heading to the left.

Min hung back as the two warriors approached the suspect shadow, weapons drawn (or in Frost's case, half a weapon). There was no movement as they got closer, but that was no indication that there was nothing hidden. LiXue had dropped to her stomach, and was crawling along the ground to Frost's amusement. Not knowing why the other woman did it, she continued to creep along, low to the ground, but still on her feet.

LiXue paused when she arrived at the rock, and watched with an impatient gleam in her eyes for Frost to catch up. When she did come up to her companion, she could see the traces of dried blood dusting the ground, and the bloody trail leading up to the other side of the rock. Perhaps this would be an exercise in over caution after all. That was when she heard the rasping breath being drawn on the other side of the rock, and she raised a hand in warning so her deaf partner would know she detected something,

The breathing was ragged and slow. It sounded like it was taking great effort for whoever was nearby to draw air into their lungs. Perhaps it had been attacked by the Tarkata and was wounded. Or, it could be a trap, she thought grimly. The blood trail hadn't necessarily come from whatever was behind the rock.

LiXue continued to worm her way around the rock on her belly, looking very much like a snake. For how ridiculous it looked, it was an incredibly silent form of movement, and Frost wondered if LiXue had any concept of how quiet she really was. Not that the concept of silence would be something she really understood. When her feet were just peeking out from the side of the rock, Frost began her advance, more quickly, but with a lot more noise.

She rounded the corner just in time to have the business end of a katana thrust into her face. The tip rested between her eyes, and she had to fight to keep them from crossing as a drop of blood trickled down her nose. She swallowed heavily, trying not to make sudden movements, and cursing herself for getting herself into a hostage situation again.

The blade was wielded by a battered looking man with a maroon cloth tied about his eyes like a blindfold. He was wearing a uniform of black and there was a white sash coming over one shoulder with a silhouette of a dragon in red coming down it. He didn't seem to be hindered by his lack of sight, though, as evidenced by his near perfect precision with the placement of the blade. Frost could see a scabbed over wound running from his ear down past his jaw and crusted blood under his lips running down to his chin. Whoever he was, he was too good looking to be a Tarkata.

Behind him, LiXue was leaning on her spear as if nothing unusual was happening. Frost glared at her over the man's shoulder, but she only smiled and made no move to lend a hand. She seemed to have more faith in Frost's ability to handle the situation, or maybe she was just hoping the man would finish her off.

"Your friend is very quiet," the man said, still resting his blade on the bridge of her nose. His sense of hearing seemed to be quite acute; no doubt to make up for his loss of sight the same way LiXue did the reverse.

"She's not my friend. Furthermore, she's deaf," Frost replied angrily. "I hope she kills you slowly."

"I would take you down long before she could do anything." The man's threat wasn't an empty one, he could slit her throat even if LiXue did succeed in striking him.

"I don't think you could do anything that could make her happier, which is probably the only reason she hasn't tried anything yet." She huffed slightly.

"Well, that's not very nice." The man seemed to relax, perhaps he didn't consider them much of threat if they weren't going to work as a team.

She sighed, beginning to be frustrated, an almost-casual chat in these circumstances was not making her feel very good. "No, it's not. She probably wishes you were a Tarkata so you would finish me and be done with."

"Those things are after you two?" The man sounded surprised.

"They're not after us, but they probably don't like us trespassing on their land." At least they hadn't been coming after them. But now that they had killed some of their number, they might be a bit more inclined to pursue them.

"You have to be very brave or very foolish to be wandering the Wastelands."

"We're probably a bit of both." Frost said with a shrug.

"Tell me then…why are you here?"

"We're just trying to get home. The only way to the Earth realm portal seems to be through here."

"You're trying to get to Earthrealm?" He seemed genuinely interested now. "I'm trying to get to the portal myself, but I got separated from the person who knew where the portal was."

Frost cocked an eyebrow. Now this was odd...he seemed alright, especially if he had the same goal…but for now, she wanted to stop staring at the katana at the very least. "Can we continue this conversation without the sword in my face?" Frost asked. "We're not out to kill you, we just thought you were a Tarkata." As she spoke, Min finally found his way to the scene, and the man turned to face him as if he saw him.

"He's definitely not a Tarkata," Min said, eyeing the katana warily.

"He's trying to get to the portal too," Frost informed him.

Min cheered up instantly, a wide grin plastered across his face. "You know where the portal is?" he asked eagerly.

"No, I don't. I was traveling with someone who knew where it was and we got separated when we were attacked by a horde of Tarkata. I barely crawled away with my life, I don't know what happened to him." The man looked distressed, and very guilty to have lost his companion, putting his hand to his face and letting the sword fall away from Frost's face.

"They travel in hordes?" Min asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

"I don't know, the ones that attacked us were sent specifically to eliminate us. Apparently the Dragon King felt we were too big of a threat to ignore." The man's face was grim.

"The Dragon King? But…I thought Quan Chi and Shang Tsung were stopped from raising the dead army?" Frost protested, her mind racing with confused thoughts on what could possibly be going on since she had come to Outworld.

"I have been told they are dead, but that means little. The Dragon King is his own entity and is more than capable of taking over the realms on his own, with or without his army." Kenshi looked like he believed whoever his informant had been.

"You haven't seen him yourself?" Frost asked cynically.

"No, unfortunately I was too busy nearly dying at the time. I was nursed back to health just in time to be attacked again." The man's face contorted into a grimace. "I don't seem to be a very popular person."

"Who attacked you the first time?" Frost asked. She wasn't sure if she wanted to deal with someone who had so many enemies.

"The Red Dragon. Apparently they found the fact I was working for the OIA offensive." He rubbed his stomach ruefully.

"OIA?" Min asked.

"Outworld Investigation Agency," Frost replied. "Its part of the United States Armed Forces."

"You know of them? I thought they were top secret," the man answered, confused.

"They're allies of ours. Well, most of them. Blade doesn't like me very much…the feeling is mutual." Frost pursed her lips. If he was from the OIA, why didn't he know where their portal was?

"I lost contact with them," the man said. "I sent out a distress signal, but no one came for me. I think their headquarters might have been attacked by the Red Dragon too."

"Why would the Red Dragon want to shut down the OIA? Their 'business' is usually in Earthrealm." None of this was making any sense to Frost anymore. It seemed like everyone's motives were constantly shifting.

"I would guess they were hired by the Deadly Alliance. They seem to rely a lot on outside assistance for their dirty work."

"I don't mean to break this up, but perhaps we can continue this conversation while walking," Min suggested. Frost hadn't even noticed he had been translating the whole conversation for LiXue; it had become such a normal thing for him to do. The warrior woman was agreeing with him, and watching the open area.

"I don't see why not," Frost agreed, looking to the man.

"Sounds like a better idea to me. I don't know when that horde will come back," he said. "They didn't seem as interested in me, but if they've eliminated their main target…"

"Alright then…uh?"

"Kenshi."

"Okay, Kenshi. I'm Frost, he's Min, and quiet girl is LiXue. Introductions are over, let's get a move on." Now that Kenshi mentioned the horde coming back, she was anxious to get out of the area as soon as possible. Handling the three Tarkata a while back was bad enough; more would probably tear them apart. "So you recovered from the attack from the Red Dragon just in time to get mowed down by the Tarkata?

"Actually, we were chased down by a crazed Seidan first."

"Seidan?" Frost asked. She didn't think she'd ever heard the term before.

"One of the crazies from the Realm of Order. This one had decided to ally himself with the Dragon King for reasons I don't understand. I guess we were somehow a threat to peace and order. Sub-Zero had thought he'd defeated him, but apparently he was wrong."

Frost bit her tongue to keep from saying anything. She hadn't expected her sifu to turn up in the Wastelands. But why would he be a threat to peace and order?

"Sub-Zero?" Min asked.

"Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei. He'd come to Outworld to stop the two sorcerers at Raiden's request. Or that's what he told me. He found me and got me patched up, and we decided that the two of us had a better chance of getting out of here together than we did alone."

Min looked at Frost curiously and looked like he was about to say something, but Frost shot him a look that would have curdled milk and he quickly shut his mouth. "And you don't know where he is now?" Frost asked, trying to sound casual.

"No, like I said, we were separated when the Tarkata attacked. The Dragon King seems to really want him dead. The Seidan that was after us looked like he had a fairly high rank, too. You should have seen the dent he put into Sub-Zero's armor."

So Sifu was somewhere in the Wastelands, possibly dead. At best those beast things were chasing him down. Would they be able to help him if they found him? She wasn't so sure they could do anything. Min would be nothing but a liability as they would have to protect him, and the swordsman looked pretty beat up. That left her and LiXue to do the real fighting, and they had barely defeated three of them…

…what if the horde realized Kenshi wasn't dead and came after them?

She realized she was chewing her lip and stopped. "Do you think the Tarkata will come back?"

"I don't know. I killed the ones who broke off to come after me, but I don't know if they'll find the bodies and want revenge, or decide to try another tactic. I wouldn't take any chances though."

LiXue looked thoughtful for a moment, and started signing to Min. "The Tarkata will come back. If they think their prey has been injured, they will come back to finish it off, like any beast will," he translated for her. He was white as a sheet and shivered slightly.

"She must have had experience with them," Frost said, to answer Kenshi's unspoken question. "She hasn't been wrong yet, I don't see why we shouldn't trust her judgment this time."

"Sub-Zero seemed to think that the portal was to the east, so you'll have to continue through the Wastelands to get there. I never understood how he ended up in the west when the Deadly Alliance was working in the east, but I didn't think he'd want to explain it. He seemed saddened about something." Kenshi tilted his head to one side. "I wish I'd thought to ask him the portal coordinates."

"Are you going to head for the portal also?" Frost asked. Injured as he was, another fighter would be a great help if they were attacked again.

"I will, eventually. I want to find Sub-Zero first if he is still alive," Kenshi answered. "I owe him my life."

Frost didn't have an immediate response. Did she really want to find Sub-Zero now? But what if he died and she could have saved him? What if she found him dead? Would the Lin Kuei believe she hadn't caused his death? Had she caused him to get attacked? She was biting her lip again.

The others were silent, waiting for her to answer. "I'll…do whatever everyone else wants," she said slowly. She didn't want to be responsible for this decision. Letting the others make the decision didn't feel right, but she at least took the pressure off of her…for now.

Min looked at her, and then at LiXue. He looked terrified at the prospect of dealing with more Tarkata but said, "I...I think we should

help. And if this person knows where the portal is…"

LiXue seemed more hesitant to help a stranger when it meant going off of her current mission. "If he really knows where the portal is, then we should look for him. But we shouldn't stray too far from the path," she said through Min.

Both of them looked to her, and she tried to decide. Was she really so cruel that she would abandon the man who spent the past few months personally training her to save her own ass? Even if she survived the journey, would she be able to forgive herself if she left him to die? Was she really afraid of the Tarkatan horde, or was she afraid of having to face the man she had betrayed? Was avoiding facing herself worth possibly condemning someone else to death?

"I guess you can come with us then," she said to Kenshi. "Or we'll come with you, I suppose. I guess it depends on how you look at it." She tried to smile, but ended up with a grimace. "Where do you suppose we should go?"

"East. If Sub-Zero survived he would continue to the portal. He seemed anxious to get back to running his clan. I think he feared someone would try to usurp him if they thought he went missing." Kenshi's curled lip expressed his disgust towards anyone dishonorable enough to try it more than his words ever would.

The traveling time seemed less, even though Frost knew they were going slower because of Kenshi's injuries. It was more of a sense of purpose, even though she dreaded what would happen should they manage to succeed in finding Sub-Zero. At least now they had a reason for marching bravely into what could possibly be their doom that was better than 'I just want to go home.'

Kenshi was traveling in the middle of the pack, fielding the questions of the untiring Min. At least he was pestering someone else with his million and one questions about Earthrealm, even if Kenshi was as cranky as she was about answering them. At the moment, they were talking about the United States army, even as Kenshi protested he was just working as a freelancer.

LiXue was watching the newcomer's every move as if she thought he was going to pull his sword and take a swing at them all at any given moment. Frost was more trusting than she was, but knowing the smaller

warrior was watching their backs gave her more comfort than she was willing to admit. Kenshi didn't seem all that dubious, but there was no telling any more. She probably didn't seem all that threatening herself to Sub-Zero and she managed to do quite a bit of damage.

No matter what she tried, it seemed her thoughts always found their way back to the Grandmaster. It was just that she had no idea what to expect when (and if) they crossed paths again. He'd forgiven a lot of the things she had pulled, including attacking a General in the army, but many people are a lot less forgiving when the damage is personal. Having your student grab the Medallion right off of your chest has got to be embarrassing, and blows to the ego are always more personally painful than any kick or punch.

It hurt more to realize that she couldn't control her powers like she had imagined she could than when the Dragon Amulet had started freezing her from within. It hurt worse to realize the consequences of her actions when her kori powers no longer manifested themselves. In the karmic cycle she was sure it was all fair and good, but deep down inside her inner child couldn't stop screaming 'It's not fair!"

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kenshi's voice startled her out of her morbid musings.

"I don't think they are worth that much," she said wryly. "I'm just wallowing in self-pity."

Kenshi just nodded and stepped up to walk next to her. "Is your friend always that talkative?' he finally asked.

"I honestly don't know. I met him barely a week ago. For all I know he may be secretly an axe murderer and this is just a ruse to lull us into a false sense of security."

"That's a comforting thought. I'd be more worried about the deaf girl."

"Oh, I know she would love it if I died. She's got too strong a sense of honor to take me out though. At least I'd like to believe that. She hasn't actively tried to kill me."

"Tell me, how did you end up wandering the Wastelands with someone you only met a week ago?"

"For starters, I'm wandering around the Wastelands now with someone I just met hours ago," she just pointed out.

"Point taken."

"I came to Outworld to help defeat the Deadly Alliance, and woke up on the wrong side of the Wastelands with no easy way to get to the portal back. Min agreed to help me because he wants to get to Earthrealm, LiXue is helping me because her father ordered her to."

"Somehow that doesn't sound like the entire story."

"It's not. The whole story is sordid and filled with me doing stupid things, so I like to leave those bits out."

"Most people prefer to tell their stories that way, I don't blame you."

The scene was different this time; she was back in the Frozen Catacombs wandering the halls, lost. She was taking turn after turn, not knowing where she was going, but not caring to stand around. The lack of people wasn't disturbing now, she had seen no one but LiXue the entire time she fought to find her way out.

The footsteps still followed her; no matter how fast she ran or which way she turned. They sounded with the same steady cadence, like someone marching in time, or walking with measured steps. In some distant part of her mind, she recognized the sound and knew she was dreaming, but did not wake up. She didn't even fear them anymore, the sound was that familiar.

Finally, she turned the corner to the chamber she woke up in and found that she was no longer alone. Those frozen in death in the niches lining the chamber walls now stood before her facing the same sarcophagus she had risen out of. The one farthest in the front carried a body, and it took her a moment to make out the distinctive pattern of the boots at that distance.

She watched in shock as they lowered the body into the sarcophagus and started placing the lid firmly on top, to seal the coffin for an eternity. They were burying her. Again.

"Stop!" she cried, but no one seemed to notice she was there.

She ran to the head of the group and hopped onto the sarcophagus lid, towering over all of them like some sort of angry goddess. "I'm not dead!" she protested, trying not to see the face of the corpse. She knew it would be a mirror image. She wouldn't let them close the lid if it meant standing in the sarcophagus again.

Then she looked down into the face of her pallbearer, at the scar tracing a path over his right eye and cheek, outlining such a sad expression.

And she woke up crying as her tired brain put together the pieces of what Kenshi had told her. She tried to hold back a sob, but it only made her choke on her breath and cough as the hot tears started sliding their way down her face. The last thing she wanted was to wake the others up. She didn't want to let them see her like that.

It was Min who first heard the sound of her crying despite her attempts to muffle it. He looked unsure of what to do, but equally reluctant to just roll over and ignore her. He crawled over to her side in the dark, still clutching his blanket.

She tried to hide her face, but the uncontrolled heaving of her chest was a dead giveaway that her mumbled, "I'm all right," couldn't be further from the truth. Her face was buried in the blanket but it did

little to stifle the noise.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, reaching out tentatively to touch her arm.

Her lips trembled, and she shook her head, not wanting to voice what she

knew to be the truth. "I'm fine," she said, to reassure herself or Min she didn't know.

"What's wrong?" he repeated, clearly not convinced.

It felt like a dam breaking, and once she started speaking it was like she couldn't stop herself. "He buried me," she sobbed. "He must have thought I was dead, but I wasn't, and he must have taken me to the Traitor's Hall and put me in the sarcophagus and taken the armor," she finally paused for a raspy breath, "And he doesn't usually wear armor but Kenshi said he was wearing it, and he was coming from the east and that was why he looked sad, but why wouldn't he have taken me with him-"

"Frost, who are you talking about?" Min looked completely lost.

"Sifu…I mean, Sub-Zero," she sniffled loudly and started bawling again.

Min was at a loss for words, but put his arms around her and let her cry onto his shoulder. He brushed her hair back and stroked her cheek; talking to her like she was a little girl and telling her it would be all right. She let him hold her like that, not caring that her dignity was completely forgotten.

She was completely out of breath by the time she finally caught control of herself and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling her ears burn. "I feel like an idiot."

"Why?" Min asked, shaking his head.

"I just feel like a little kid," she smiled despite her still watery eyes. "Big girls aren't supposed to cry."

Min just shrugged and went to go back to his bedroll, but Frost looked up at him and said, "Don't go."

And he didn't.

She cuddled closer to him and sniffled, burying her head in his shoulder. She just wanted to be held in friendly arms, no matter whom they belonged to.


	9. eight

* * *

Chapter Eight

* * *

There was nothing quite like the smell of dried moss in the morning. The last of the water supply went into the pot to make the slimy, green mixture wet enough to choke down, to Frost's taste buds it was about as satisfying as choking down a wet dust bunny. In a sick, sad way she was craving dried meat, which she had confessed to detesting only a few days before.

Kenshi had been searching for him for two days, but there was no sign of Sub-Zero to be found. The only clue they had was the tracks of several Tarkata in the dust and even then they couldn't tell if it was the correct band of the beasts. They weren't all that sure they were Tarkatan tracks; they only assumed so because of the lack of other bipeds to be seen.

They were all discouraged and frustrated, it was evident in the short responses to questions, the complete silence between the few necessary words. Frost was managing to feel lonely despite the fact she was traveling with three other people. Min had been awfully quiet with her after the night she cried, and she almost missed his annoying questions. Almost. Kenshi had mostly remained quiet by choice, LiXue less so.

The tracks they had been following ended abruptly at what was once a riverbed but was now nothing but a channel of dirt and dust. She cursed under breath as LiXue bent down to examine the ground for any indication of where the tracks had gone. It was the fourth set of dead end footprints they had come to. Sometimes it seemed like everything about this entire journey was cursed-they'd had nothing but bad luck the entire time they searched.

"What's that?" Min asked. He was pointing off into the distance, when Frost followed his finger she saw a splotch of darker brown in the beige landscape. It stuck out against the paler background almost as well as if it were a brighter color.

"I don't know," she replied. Whatever it was, it was definitely different. "Ask LiXue."

The smaller woman was equally confused by the patch but agreed to check it out. The trail had ended completely where they were, and she couldn't pick it up again. She jumped down into the riverbed and followed it carefully with the others close behind. The dirt was swirled and smooth and darker just ahead like it had only recently been dried.

"Do you think it rained?" Min asked, scooping up a bit of dried mud. It crumbled in his fingers in large clumps.

"What is it?" Kenshi asked, and she felt a twinge of guilt for forgetting about him. She was used to seeing Min translate for LiXue, but no one seemed to remember to translate the view for Kenshi's ears. He hadn't complained, but she didn't know if his pride was preventing him from doing so.

"This part of the stream bed is wet," she answered him. "Everything else is so dry I can't imagine that this was natural."

"Maybe the stream is underground," Min suggested. "Water is more likely to be found at a river bend." He seemed to perk up at the thought of fresh water.

But LiXue was up ahead, waving her arms for attention. "What has she found?" Frost mumbled to herself, but hurried over to see what the new development was, leaving the other two to finish playing in the dirt. It seemed as though the tribal warrior had found the continuation of the tracks they were following.

This area was still moist, and the tracks looked fairly fresh, if shallow. The footprints were indicative of a large fight, and what looked like a brutal one if the occasional reddish tints were blood like she suspected. There were some telltale gashes in the mud where Tarkatan blades had dug into the earth, but no evidence of other weapons.

LiXue was following the footsteps forward, hunched down to the ground like a bloodhound. She was so intent on the ground she nearly stumbled over the corpse of a Tarkatan who had its skull crushed. The ground was heaped with bodies around the next bend, all mutilated nearly beyond recognition, and Frost couldn't believe they couldn't smell them before. They must have been upwind.

The ground was still wet here, and they sloshed around in an inch or two of mud while examining the bodies. "These are fresh kills," Frost said, kicking over a corpse to examine its face. "I don't see any signs of decay."

LiXue sniffed disdainfully and signed something to Min. "She says there are no maggots," Min translated. "They only smell a little rotten, so they probably died a few hours ago."

"That would explain the mud too," Kenshi pulled his foot free from a particularly deep puddle with a sickening squelch. "Sub-Zero did this. This must be from the melting ice."

"I've never seen him crush in anyone's head before," Frost protested.

There was a slight pause. "…You've seen him before?" Kenshi asked.

She mentally cursed. She hadn't meant to give that away yet. "I'm from the Lin Kuei," she confessed, hoping that would be enough of an explanation to prevent any further questions. Things were bad enough without having to explain her sordid relationship with the Grandmaster.

Kenshi didn't seem convinced, but at least he did not ask anything else, just concentrated on finding a shallower puddle to stand in. He hadn't acted like the kind of person who stuck their nose in other people's business before. LiXue, following the conversation with assistance from Min, had a suspicious look in her eye, but did nothing either.

"Well, I don't see him in the pile here, so I guess he survived," Min said, politely changing the subject. "You said you thought he would head for the Earthrealm portal?" He directed the last question to Kenshi.

"He mentioned a rendezvous point too, but I don't know where that is or if he would try to meet there first," Kenshi replied. "But I feel better now, at least I know he survived the Tarkata's attack."

"Do you think there'll be more of them?" Min looked disgusted and terrified at the same time as he surveyed the carnage.

"Well, I wouldn't recommend us standing around here too long," Frost said. "I don't want to find out if there are any carrion eating beasts around here."

LiXue was pointing and waving again, looking very much like an overexcited schoolgirl. She was practically jumping up and down with excitement and looking proud of herself. When they walked over they realized she was standing next to a solitary set of large footprints. The sole was covered in a very shallow diamond pattern, suitable for traction on a smooth surface. The kind of sole found on LiXue's boots, in fact.

Frost smiled. It looked like things might pick up after all.

They had only been following Sub-Zero's trail for a few hours and already Kenshi was on edge. LiXue didn't seem to have the same suspicion, but watched their backs just the same, apparently approving of Kenshi's superior senses. Their behavior was making Min and Frost nervous more than their own suspicions of something going wrong. The result was a very paranoid, very cranky group who spent more time jumping at the noise they made than doing anything useful.

Suddenly, Kenshi stopped dead in his tracks and held up one hand to shut them up the same way LiXue normally did. Then he did something LiXue had never done. "Run!" he called, taking off at full speed.

Frost didn't know what was going on, but decided to follow orders and sort it all out later. She had survived long enough in dangerous situations that when somebody screamed, "run" like that, they usually meant it. They had barely made it a quarter mile when she heard the pounding of feet behind her and the snarls of Tarkata on their heels. She didn't look back as they ran as fast as they could towards the rockier landscape ahead, hoping they could lose their pursuers amongst the stones.

One had nearly caught up to her, and she felt a gust of wind as it took a swing at her neck. She gulped, and put her head down and hoped the adrenaline rush was enough to keep her from becoming a human shish kabob. She'd never been the fastest runner, but emergency situations have a tremendous ability to bring out the sprinter in everyone.

LiXue was the first to reach the rocks and charged in at full speed, hurtling over the nearest obstacle. Kenshi was next, and he dodged his way into a narrow opening between two stones as neatly as if he saw them. They were almost out of sight when she hit the rocks, and she didn't try to track them, just fought her way through the terrain. She'd lost sight of Min too, and she hoped he had made it into the cover. There was no time to look for him.

Something caught her ankle as she jumped over a smaller stone, and she fell to her knees, skidding a few feet from the momentum and tearing up her pants. She turned over as best she could and used her free foot to bash the Tarkatan clinger in the face until he was forced to let go. It didn't matter when he finally did; she had lost too much time in the incident.

Scrambling to her feet, she finally glanced behind her and saw five more Tarkata within range to catch her. At least that meant that the Tarkata had split up as well, and no one specific was being targeted. She leapt over another outcropping and wished the Tarkata were less nimble as they followed her easily. They bounded over the rocks like mountain goats, closing the distance between them.

A large shadow on the ground surprised her, and she looked up just in time to see the Tarkata leaping from the top of an outcropping as it landed on her, pinning her to the ground with its weight. She kicked wildly at it and rocked from side to side to try and heave him off of her, but she had no leverage on her back. To make matters worse, the other five caught up, making escape impossible even if she succeeded in bucking off her first captor.

They seemed to be arguing amongst themselves, which was good to the extent that none of them were trying to run her through. That didn't make having a smelly, sweaty thing lying on top of her any more pleasant, and she tried not to retch as it snorted its foul breath in her face. Unfortunately the thing was squishing her chest so hard holding her breath was not a viable option.

Whatever the argument was, it seemed that two of them were on one side and three on the other. It looked quite heated, and Frost wished it would break out into a full-fledged fight and buy her some time to get away. She had no such luck and after several minutes of intense tension the smaller group appeared to concede and pout a little. The biggest one, which Frost assumed to be the leader, said something to the one restraining her and he got to his feet, yanking her up with him.

He kept a firm grip on her hair, and she yelped as he yanked her head back to keep her from moving. It felt like he was trying to scalp her without the aid of his blades. Mule kicking him only resulted in him smacking her back, so she settled for squirming vigorously and screaming obscenities at the filthy creatures keeping her from her friends.

A few minutes later Min was dragged between the rocks, kicking and screaming. The group of four holding him was covered in bruises and he landed a last kick to a particularly nasty looking one's thigh, and it hissed in pain and slapped him with enough force to swing his head. Whether Min was so disgruntled because he was caught or because he had lost his pack with his precious scrolls inside was hard to tell. He was bright red in the face and Frost half expected steam to start pouring out of his ears.

They both waited breathlessly as the two groups of Tarkata conversed, but neither of the other groups arrived with LiXue or Kenshi in tow. Frost could only hope that it was because they got away, not because they had been killed. Another argument was starting up between the Tarkata, and Frost took the opportunity to try and find out what Min knew about the situation.

"Did you see LiXue and Kenshi?" she asked hurriedly.

"No, not since we entered the rocks. I hope they escaped," Min said, and Frost noted the blood on his teeth as he spoke.

"Me too," The conversation was cut short as one of the Tarkata backhanded her to stop her speech. She tasted copper and made a mental note to add him to the list of people she was going to kill. The list was getting amazingly long as their journey continued.

The Tarkatan leader, which turned out to be the big fellow Frost had noted before, must have decided that the other hunting parties had failed, because he ordered them all to move out. Frost was made to walk behind thee nastiest creature she had ever had the misfortune of ever having to smell, even their moss rations made her less nauseous. Min was shoved into line next to her, but she decided not to risk a conversation with so many of the beasts watching them.

To her surprise, they weren't being led back the way they had come, but East towards where the supposed portal was. Their capture might not become the disaster she had originally envisioned. Not that being captured by man-beasts with mouths crammed with pointy teeth and natural swords sheathed in their forearms was ever really a good thing.

She began mentally running through escape plans, but none of them seemed particularly good considering the circumstances. It would have been a lot easier if she didn't have to account for Min as well, but if she got to choose the circumstances she wouldn't have been captured at all. All she could do was try to make the best she could out of the whole mess.

She sincerely doubted the Tarkata would begin to stop if she claimed she had to answer the call of nature. Considering the way they stunk, likely they wouldn't care if she wet herself. Feigning sickness wouldn't do any good, because that would leave her surrounded and she doubted Min could take care of himself in that situation. What she needed was a distraction and a big one at that.

…if only her powers weren't hiding from her. At one time she could have just started freezing them, but now all she could do was glare angrily at the back of the head of the disgusting slob in front of her. She tried reaching deep in herself to try and bring her powers to the surface, but the Tarkata behind her realized she was up to something and struck her upside the head, knocking her teeth together.

Min cast her a sympathetic glance, but he seemed to be concentrating more on the terrain than on what was going on. She had no idea what he was doing, but hoped it had something to do with running away, or perhaps signaling for help. Maybe finding Sifu wouldn't be so bad after all… If only there was something she could do she'd feel better.

She wasn't the only one getting restless. There was clear tension amongst the separate groups of Tarkata, and she got the distinct impression these weren't friends but rivals. Maybe she could goad them into a fight amongst themselves and escape during the confusion. They hadn't bound either her or Min; perhaps they thought the two of them were just incapable of coming up with an escape plan. Overconfidence was an easy thing to turn to her advantage.

She just needed some way to communicate with Min that didn't end with them both getting slapped around. The tribal sign language would have come in quite handy if she had bothered to learn it on the way. She mentally slapped herself for overlooking that, it would have given her something to do as well as let her talk to LiXue directly. It was just one more mistake to add to the pile.

As they marched on she began wondering if they were ever going to stop for the night. The sky was turning an unusual shade of purple, but they didn't even seem like they were looking for a campsite. Now nature really was calling her, and she wondered desperately if her earlier musings were true. Not that she could go if those creatures tried to watch her.

But just as she was about to give up hope, they squeezed around one last rock formation and were heading towards a rather scary looking forest. The trees were taller than any she had ever seen in Earthrealm, and their foliage was an amazing shade of green. It was the trunks that bothered her, they were gnarled and black, and something just seemed horribly wrong about them.

The rest of the group seemed excited to see them and she dreaded the idea that they might decide to stop for the night inside the tree cover. The feeling grew stronger as they approached, and Min was white as a sheet as they began to enter the forest proper. It looked like every horror film evil forest combined into one, except the monsters in this forest were real.

The trees had faces. Faces. Not even friendly ones at that, just horrible glowing eyes and a kind of evil grin. One of them groaned as they came close, and she suddenly wondered just what the trees ate. Every rustle of leaves made her look around to see if one of them had decided to reach for her.

The Tarkata were snickering at the two of them. Clearly they were not afraid of the horrible trees. She couldn't tell if that was because the trees weren't dangerous, or the Tarkata felt that they could defeat them. Bravery and foolishness often went hand in hand.

One of the Tarkata started sniffing the air like a dog, his whole body tensing up like a coiled spring. Soon the rest followed, growling and hissing like feral animals as they tested the air. Whatever had set them off did not appear; possibly it decided they weren't as easy prey as it thought. It did leave them all on edge, attack or not, and the tension amongst their captors was thick in the air.

They did decide to set up camp in the middle of the forest, and Frost knew immediately she would not be able to sleep that night. Min was shaking like the forest would give him day as well as nightmares whether he slept or not. She would have laughed if it hadn't looked like he was going to have a heart attack at any given moment. Then she realized she was shaking too.

The setting up of camp did give her a few moments to talk to Min again, and she sidled over to him at the earliest opportunity. "Can you understand them?" she asked, as quietly as she could while still being able to be heard over the usual camp set up.

"A little. I wouldn't be able to hold a conversation, but I think they are talking about some sort of military coupe."

Min whispered.

"A military coupe?"

" I think so. They were talking about someone named Baraka and how they were betrayed by a she-Tarkata. I think they're trying to get revenge."

"By kidnapping us?"

"I don't understand why they haven't killed us either. I can't imagine we would do them any good alive."

A Tarkata walked towards them and they fell silent, attempting to look forlorn and dispirited, a feat that was far too easy for them to do. As soon as he walked away, Frost asked, "Did they say anything about Sub-Zero?

"They just mentioned that after they bring him back to the Dragon King they will attack Edenia."

"That doesn't surprise me, Outworld and Edenia are at war. If we get out of this we'll have to warn Princess Kitana I guess. She'll get us to Earthrealm if nothing else."

"That still doesn't answer what they are going to do with us."

"I guess we're being taken to the Dragon King, too. Otherwise they would have just killed us when they had the chance."

"Why would they take us to the Dragon King? "

"I don't know. You're the one who was eavesdropping."

"That doesn't give me psychic powers!" He said that last bit so loudly that several of the nearest Tarkata turned towards them, and Frost snickered shamelessly.

But then a savage howl broke the relative quiet of the forest, and Frost was yanked to her feet and grabbed again by the hair so she was forced to run along with the Tarkata as they rushed through the woods. She couldn't see where they were going, and she had to concentrate all her attention on not tripping over the forest debris littering the ground. The pain in her scalp was making that immensely difficult and if she didn't think it would mean losing a handful of hair she would have dug her heels into the ground to stop.

She was out of breath long before they stopped, and couldn't imagine how Min was feeling. Her lungs were burning so badly her eyes were watering, but the only alternative was being dragged along. In the distance she could hear howling and screaming and the occasional shattering noise, but could see nothing.

Then it was eerily quiet again and the Tarkata finally stopped running, to her relief. The only way she was able to remain standing was to lock her knees as she gasped futilely for air. Her hair was being yanked again, but there was no way she could move if she wanted to. In the end the beast had to throw her over his shoulder like a rag doll.

At first she thought she was seeing red as they moved closer to the source of the commotions, but then she saw everything was simply soaked in blood. The ground was wet with it and it formed a sickening shade of black when mixed with the dark earth of the forest. The tree faces seemed to be in a frenzy, their maws opening and closing like they were cheering silently, the bark teeth stained scarlet.

She hadn't seen this much gore in any horror movie Hollywood had ever produced. The bodies of almost a hundred Tarkata were strewn about the ground like sacks, most nearly crushed, arms and legs bent at grotesque angles. A few were in pieces, shattered like so much glass. All were very bloody and very dead.

A smile played wanly on Min's lips as he turned to her from the shoulder of his own Tarkata. He pointed wordlessly to a pile of shattered ice melting next to a pile of inner organs. She wanted desperately to call out for Sifu, for some help, but didn't want to put him in danger because of her again. She didn't want anyone else to be put in danger because of her again.

This was her own mess, and she'd get herself out of it.


	10. nine

* * *

Chapter Nine

* * *

The Tarkata were milling about their camp angrily. They were arguing loudly over something, probably debating over what they were to do next now that their comrades had been so brutally defeated. A few hissed like animals at one another, but so far none had taken to violence.

Frost and Min had been dumped unceremoniously onto the ground with one Tarkatan keeping a lazy eye on them. They still hadn't been restrained in any way-a mistake no Lin Kuei would have ever made, Frost thought with a sneer. They were an afterthought at this point, lost in the confusion that was the camp. Clearly the beasts didn't think they were a threat.

She took the opportunity to reach inside of herself and tried to call up her kori abilities, but all she achieved was giving herself a raging headache. It seemed like the harder she tried the faster she lost her grip on the power. Refusing to give up, she looked inside herself again and again, but every time it slipped away from her, leaving her with nothing but intense frustration.

"What are you doing?" Min asked, shivering slightly. "Why is it so cold all of sudden?" He was watching the different factions of Tarkata nervously, one eye twitching when one strayed too close.

She smiled slightly…at least that was something. "Never mind. You just concentrate on what they are saying." Worse than being captured was the complete lack of information.

"I can't hear them from here," Min protested. "They are probably just fighting over whether or not to slit our throats."

"Well, what good are you?" Frost hissed. "Start planning our escape then."

"I've been trying. I haven't thought of anything that seems even remotely plausible. At least not without any sort of weapon."

"You supply the plan, and I'll come up with a weapon."

The largest Tarkatan was stomping over to them looking distinctly disgruntled. Its nostrils flared like a bull's and the two prisoners slunk back involuntarily. He smelled worse than an Amish farm during fertilizer season. He spoke in a gravelly, throaty voice in stumbling English-"What are you doing in Outworld?"

"Trying to leave," Frost shot back, trying not to shrink away, despite the twinge of danger she felt when it approached. If they were truly as animalistic as they seemed, they would consider any fear she showed as a weakness to exploit…and she was sick of that happening to her.

"No one enters the Wastelands without a reason," the spittle dripped from its teeth as it spoke and she flinched as it hit her in the face. She wasn't sure what was worse, his breath or the drool.

"We entered it in order to leave Outworld," she repeated, getting annoyed with the beast already. It was looking for an excuse to detain them.

"Why are you leaving Outworld?" it hissed, and Frost had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"Because this place is a shit hole!" She could sense the interrogation was going to go in circles. She wasn't going to give the answers he wanted to hear, and he wasn't going to let her go just because she didn't want to be there.

She hadn't expected the beast to get right in her face. "Why are you leaving Outworld?" it repeated with a snarl.

"Because this place is filled with shit heads like you," she smiled, refusing to be intimidated anymore. "Why did you kidnap us?"

"You trespass on our clan's lands," it growled at her.

"You can keep your shitty lands. We just want to go home." The beast wasn't going to be reasoned with, she could tell that already. None of the Tarkata seemed to be the sharpest sword in the arsenal. Likely they just wanted an excuse to cut them to ribbons.

One of the other Tarkata barked out a comment, setting off a long series of yelling on both sides of the camp. This leader's position was apparently quite perilous as he couldn't even keep the two rival factions from fighting while he was there. The noise was nearly deafening as the fight escalated and Frost chanted, 'Fight! Fight!' in her head, silently encouraging them to resort to violence. Beside her, Min was wringing his hands excitedly, apparently having the same idea she had.

One of the Tarkata's heads flew back like it had been punched, but no one had touched it. Blood poured from its nose and dripped off its lipless mouth. It screamed furiously and shoved the beast standing next to him in retaliation for the perceived offense.

That beast took offense to the unprovoked attack and unsheathed his arm blades with a scraping, metallic sound. Then the clearing was filled with the sounds of blades as the entire party did the same. Their leader turned to face them, and Frost leapt to her feet, pushing him right into the middle of the feuding Tarkata, impaling him on a set of blades.

Min was quick on his feet and was sprinting for the end of the clearing as soon as he saw Frost shove the leader. One of the Tarkata tried to chase him, but stumbled as it hit some sort of invisible force. Frost

took the opportunity to kick it hard where the kidneys would be in a human as she, too, dashed past. She hoped it hurt, a lot.

The attention of the Tarkata was divided between the escaping prisoners and the dueling clan members, and the bloodshed drew the attention of most. By the time they had reached the end of the clearing, the small fight had turned into an all-consuming brawl as the blood started pouring forth. Frost could hear the shrieking and howling as they fled.

They did not have to run far. Kenshi and LiXue were waiting not more than one hundred yards away, looking quite self-satisfied. LiXue was grinning like a maniac, watching the Tartaka tear each other to pieces behind them. Kenshi held up one hand to stop them, and they slowed to a halt in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Frost asked incredulously.

"We can pick off the survivors," Kenshi said. "We need their supplies."

"You think they'll kill each other?" Frost asked. A sickening slicing sound cut through the air and her stomach lurched. "Never mind."

"How did you set them going?" Min asked. "I didn't see any flying rocks."

"Nothing so philistine," Kenshi pointed his temple. " A little telekinesis goes a long way."

The sounds of the fight were fading away, and Frost strained her eyes to see the clearing. In the fading light it was becoming difficult to see much of anything. Half of their number lay dead, and another was decapitated as she watched. "I think they may be finishing up," she announced. "Who gets to lead the charge?"

LiXue grinned ferally and pulled out her steel-tipped whip, cracking it once for good measure. At least someone was eager for a good fight. Kenshi pulled his katana as well, and it shone brightly when it caught the moonlight. She wished she could unsheathe her own weapon, but her spear had been left with her pack amongst the rocks and her kori daggers were still only a memory.

"How many are left?" Kenshi asked. "I only hear three."

His hearing was right, and once again she was amazed at his other heightened sense. None of the three looked to be in good condition, but they appeared to be of the same group because there was no further fighting. They seemed to be surveying the carnage with great satisfaction but it could just have been their permanent fang filled smiles she was spying. "Do you think you can take one of them on unarmed?" Kenshi asked. It wasn't a mean spirited question, but she prickled slightly.

As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't sure she could. "No," she said quietly, shaking her head for LiXue's benefit. "I think I had better sit this one out."

Min translated for LiXue, who was signing with a smirk, "Good, more for me then."

"She's brutal, isn't she?" Kenshi commented, then turned to the tribal warrior. "Let's go!"

He and LiXue ran off to the remaining Tarkata at full speed, leaving Min and Frost with what was left of their goods. "My pack!" Min cried happily, spying the scrolls sticking out from the pockets of one bag. He looked as if he'd just won the lottery. "I can't believe they went back for it."

Frost tried to smile, but the pain of not being able to help still stung. It was hard to be happy when she was watching someone else fight for her. She hated letting someone else do the dirty work for her. It was her fault they were hanging around the Wastelands to be captured in the first place.

She sighed loudly and tried hard not to mope, but LiXue was trying to get their attention in the clearing. She picked up the other two packs and dragged them over to the other two warriors in the clearing. Body parts were strewn around the forest floor like some sort of gruesome confetti, and the ground was simply saturated with blood. It looked like some sort of demented butcher had gone through.

While Kenshi was ensuring that all the fallen were really dead by severing all their heads from their necks, LiXue started rifling through their few possessions. None of it looked particularly edible, but they did find a few skins filled with water amongst the various "trophies" of dried body parts and personal items. Frost wondered if she knew any of the people they had originally belonged to.

Kenshi finished his gruesome task and strode over, carefully wiping his blade off on a scrap of cloth before putting it away. "Did we find anything useful?"

"I don't know, how do you feel about dried, severed heads?" Frost asked sarcastically. "Why would anyone carry this stuff around?" She nudged a dried finger with her toe.

"To prove whomever they were sent to kill is dead." Min answered. "They must have been on the hunt for a while."

"Ugh," Frost said. "That's why the Lin Kuei cut off a lock of hair. It's a lot less messy. And a hell of a lot more sanitary."

LiXue was still digging through the bags, trying to find something they could eat. None of them trusted the forest enough to try and forage, it seemed likely that most of it would be poisonous, or at the very least inedible. She looked clearly disappointed in their find.

"Well, that is discouraging," Min said. "But at least we've got some water again."

"Oh yay. Moss stew," Frost said, sticking out her tongue. Eating dirt was beginning to sound more appealing.

"It's still better than eating it dry," Min pointed out.

"Hopefully we will find some sort of animal to hunt," Kenshi was trying hard to sound optimistic. "I've never been in a forest that didn't have some sort of native species."

Frost glanced around at the twisted faces of the trees and shivered, "I think I would rather not run into any native species; if it's all right with you." Somehow she didn't think Bambi and friends were the kind of animals that made their home underneath the dark canopy of leaves. If the trees were any indication, the fauna were big with nasty teeth. She tried to stop thinking about it.

Min agreed heartily. "I don't want to do anything that will delay our getting out of here. Maybe we can catch up with Sub-Zero if we hurry."

Kenshi's ears perked up. "You saw him?"

"No, but we found the place of his last battle, it only happened a few hours ago. We could hear the screaming," Frost reported. "It's not too far away from here."

"We had just gotten back when the Tarkata started fighting," Min added.

"Where was it?" Kenshi asked, excitedly.

"East," Frost said. She turned around a few times, unsure of where East really was. Without a clear view of the Outworld moon, her sense of direction was pitiful. LiXue watched her with a smile as she spun and finally pointed over her left shoulder. On a closer examination, the tracks leading off would have been a good clue.

It didn't take long at all to arrive at the scene of the earlier battle. A few sets of glistening eyes shone dimly at the edges as they approached, but aside from a few small bite marks on some of the farthest corpses, it looked like little had changed since they had last seen the battlefield. LiXue looked quite impressed and nodded her approval to no one in particular.

"Should we... should we check these bodies for supplies?" Min asked timidly, trying to avoid stepping in any puddles of blood.

"I don't see any packs," Frost said, but turned to LiXue. The warrior woman was nudging the nearest body, looking for all the world as if she was rolling it for loose change. She didn't seem too keen on the idea though, and Min let the matter drop.

"What do we do now?" Kenshi asked suddenly, startling them all.

"What do you mean?" Frost was confused. "I thought we were going to look for Sub-Zero."

"We are," Kenshi said, sighing. "I just don't think we're going to find him. At least not at the rate we're going."

"You think we should give up?" Min asked. He seemed to be just as confused as Frost. "We want to go the same way he is going."

"That's not what I mean." Kenshi sighed heavily again. "I don't think I even know what I mean."

LiXue surprised them all by placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezing it almost affectionately. With the other hand she signed to Min, who turned to begin translating to Kenshi.

"I don't think any of us know what we are doing anymore. I could have left you all for dead with the Tarkata and gone back to the village and no one would have known the difference. But I didn't. Min is wandering around in the wilderness with a group of insane warriors, chasing after someone he's never met, and trying to get somewhere he's never been. Frost is desperately chasing after someone she obviously doesn't want to catch up with and trying to help others when all she wants to do is just go home. And you are wandering around in the Living Forest, risking your life for people you barely know and helping loot the corpses of our enemies. None of us are doing the most obvious, beneficial or even logical things. None of this makes any sense, and I really don't know what I should be doing anymore, nor does anyone else."

Frost just stood staring as her tired brain tried to process what had happened. That had to be more words from LiXue than she had ever tried to communicate for the entire rest of the trip. The last thing she had expected was a speech from her. What's more, she did have a point. What were they really trying to accomplish?

All she had wanted from the moment she had woken up in the sarcophagus was to just get home and act like she had never joined the Lin Kuei and that none of this had ever happened. But now it felt like something bigger was drawing her.

She hadn't asked Min to come with her, but here he was, and she felt like it was her duty to protect him, even if it had been his choice to come along. Finding Kenshi was never part of the plan, yet she was trying to chase down Sub-Zero for him. Sometimes it felt like someone else was making the decisions for her.

It was her turn to sigh and wonder what they were doing. Did it really matter if they caught up with Sifu? What if they were running into so many Tarkata because they were following him? Was it really fair to put Min into so much danger because she felt guilty for putting Sub-Zero in danger?

Why did everything seem to rest on her shoulders?

She looked up at Kenshi's sad face and asked his question right back to him, "What are we going to do?"

Kenshi took a moment to really think about it. "We should continue to follow Sub-Zero's trail. I think he will lead us to the portal to Earthrealm, even if we never see him in person."

LiXue nodded once Min had translated for her. "I think we have a better chance of finding our destination if we follow his trail rather than wander aimlessly to the east," she signed.

Min swallowed and stared at his feet a minute before he answered. "I think we'll do better hoping that he's heading for the portal than if we spent our time trying to find our way on our own."

At least they were all together in their decision, no matter if they turned out to be right or wrong. It felt like a burden was lifted when she realized Min was choosing to follow them into danger willingly. "I think maybe you're right," she said, affirming it to herself more than to the rest of the tattered band.

LiXue took a long look at the array of bodies piled among the trees. "Before we do anything else, we should make camp...A long, long way away from here," she said through Min.

The rest couldn't agree more heartily.

The forest was bleaker than before, almost black without the sliver of moon. It had disappeared behind a rush of clouds, casting an eerie purple tone to the trees.

She was in constant fear of touching a trunk in the darkness, afraid of brushing a hand against the rough bark and drawing back only a stump. They were moaning for her, horrible faces twisting as their maws opened wide to swallow her in.

Otherwise the forest was silent, and the lack of ambient noise was more frightening than even the hideous trees. There were no hooting owls, no rodents rustling in the underbrush, no rustling of leaves…the forest may have itself been alive, but it was full of death.

The others were no longer behind her, and no matter how she squinted her eyes there was no sign of them. No matter how quiet LiXue and Kenshi were, Min couldn't sneak up on a dead man. He was always clomping around, disturbing leaf piles and stepping on every twig they passed. But the forest was dead silent.

"Min!" she called into the darkness, but there was no response. "Kenshi?" One of them should have heard her, there was no way she could have wandered that far from the group so quickly. LiXue would have spotted her, even in the pitch black of night. "Min!" she called again with her heart in her throat.

Surely she would have heard if they were in trouble, even if she could see little. There were no sounds of a skirmish, no calls for help except her own. There were no running feet, no scraping of weapons. It was like they had vanished completely.

She drew a deep breath and tried to keep her head clear. There must be a logical explanation for what was going on. No one truly disappeared without a trace, not even the best ninja. Perhaps they were playing some sort of cruel joke on her.

And then she saw the figure in the distance. Not any of her companions, but someone else, someone tall. "Hello!" she cried out, but no response came. She ran towards the receding figure, and cried out again.

She could just make out the armor now, silver arm plates and a strange, spiked helmet. It looked like tribal armor to her. "Sifu!" she screamed, hearing her own voice echo through the trees.

"Sifu, please!"

But he either could not hear her or chose not to. She ran faster, never seeming to gain any ground as he walked away. His footsteps were just audible in the distance. "Sifu!"

She awoke with a start and cursed. Her breath was coming in great gasps and she econcentrated on not hyperventilating. She hated these dreams with a passion.

"Again?" Kenshi asked over the dull crackle of their campfire. It had burned to mostly embers under his watch, he had no need of it for it wasn't cold, and she could just make him out where he sat.

She was glad he couldn't see her shaking. "Again what?" she tried to ask non-chalantly.

"You were having a nightmare," Kenshi said quietly. "You've had one every night, I can hear you calling in your sleep."

"Oh," her ears were burning. She had assumed that since no one had said anything since she had woken Min that night that she hadn't been talking in her sleep. "I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter, you can't control them," he said amicably.

"I just wish I would stop having them," she moaned. "I've been having them ever since I started on this trip."

"Anxiety dreams?"

"Right in one I think," she rubbed the back of her head bashfully. Most people had anxiety dreams of being naked in public-why were hers so brutal? "I guess I've got a lot on my mind."

Kenshi nodded, "I think we all do."

"But you're not all having screaming night terrors about them," she added ruefully. "All I ask for is just one night of peaceful sleep."

"Well, what are you dreaming about?" Kenshi seemed genuinely interested.

"Mostly about being alone, being lost, not being able to find anyone." It sounded a little silly when she said it aloud. But then again, anxiety dreams are rarely logical. How often do people really show up late for a performance while simultaneously forgetting to wear their

clothes, forgetting their lines and having their teeth fall out?

"It sounds like someone has some self-esteem issues." Without seeing his face she couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"It's more like I'm afraid of screwing up," she confessed. It was true.

"Isn't everyone afraid of that?" Kenshi asked philosophically. "Hell, many cultures would commit suicide rather than live with the shame after making a mistake. I'd be more worried about someone who always thought they were in the right."

"I know," she felt a little weird confessing her fears to someone she barely knew. But it wasn't as if anything about the trip was something she was comfortable with. "It's just that I've got a bit more experience with screwing up than most people."

Kenshi seemed to be considering something and for a moment she was afraid she had managed to offend him. But then he asked, "Can I tell you something?"

"...Okay."

"You have to promise to keep it to yourself though."

"Okay." She had no idea what he could possibly want to tell her. People weren't in the habit of confessing their secrets to her.

"When I was younger, and stupider, I had it in my head that I would be the best swordsman that ever walked the Realms. I traveled from place to place, challenging the other masters, slaying them to ensure that I would remain the best."

He paused for a breath and Frost realized he was telling her an intensely personal story. She tried to listen as respectfully as she could.

"I wasn't born blind. One day, I met a sorcerer named Song, who promised he would take me to find a sword worthy of my superior abilities. I was suspicious at first, but finally convinced myself in my arrogance that I clearly deserved such a fine sword, and agreed to go with him.

He took a small breath, then continued speaking. "He led me to a tomb and bade me to open it. But when I did, instead of finding my sword, all the souls of my ancestors were sucked, screaming, into the abyss known as Shang Tsung who had disguised himself. Meanwhile, I was left blind and nearly dead in the tomb, with nothing but the sword I found there."

A grim smirk then crossed his lips. "I think that qualifies as a pretty abysmal 'screw up'."

"But isn't Shang Tsung dead?" she asked. She hadn't been there for the final battle, but it looked as though Kung Lao would succeed in his quest for revenge before she tried to steal the Dragon Amulet.

"Yes, and now the souls of my ancestors reside in my sword to guide me."

"See, my story doesn't end happily. I just woke up in a coffin," Frost argued.

Kenshi looked thoughtful again and shrugged. "Maybe your story hasn't ended yet."

She didn't have a response to that and settled back to think about it, accidentally nudging Min where he lay.

"Hmmm?" he asked, half-awake. "Did you have another nightmare?"

"Go back to sleep, Min," she ordered, scratching his head affectionately.

Apparently pleased that she wasn't crying, he did. She followed him shortly thereafter.


	11. ten

* * *

Chapter Ten

* * *

They reached the end of the forest with great relief, and Min almost danced a jig for joy at not having those awful trees always watching them. Just being able to see the sky, bleak as it was, was a blessing.

The ground was flat and barren once more, but it was stony and rather rough instead of dusty like in the Wastelands. They were surrounded on all but one side by imposing mountains of black stone. To Frost it didn't seem like any part of Outworld was a place anyone would want to

live. No wonder they were always trying to take over the other Realms.

LiXue was examining the ground carefully, searching for clues of where to head next, but the rocks were harder to divine from. The footprints they had been following ended abruptly when the dirt of the forest stopped. She leaned back on her heels and sighed dejectedly. It looked like they had come to a dead end once again.

Frost sat down hard in defeat. To come this far only to hit disappointment felt like a slap in the face. Min sank down next to her and laid his head on her shoulder. "Why us?" he groaned.

Kenshi was kicking at a pile of pebbles angrily. "Because apparently the universe hates us."

Frost snorted. "I figured that out a long time ago." They were interrupted by a fresh series of howling deep in the woods. "Does it ever stop?" she added bitterly.

"I suggest we relocate, quickly," LiXue signed, watching the forest for any sign of movement. It was a much easier task in the daytime despite the fact the thick canopy blocked out most of the light.

"Wait," Kenshi put a finger to his lips. A shrill shriek cut through the howls. "I think they got who they were looking for."

"That doesn't mean they won't add us on to their list as a bonus," Min's voice was trembling slightly.

"Well, we certainly aren't going to be able to avoid them out here in the open," LiXue's insistence was visible in her face even without the added effect of intonation. "We have to move now."

"Let's head for those hills," Frost suggested, pointed ahead towards the black mountains.

"What if they catch up to us on the plain?" Min asked.

"Would you like to go back into the forest?" Kenshi asked testily. "Let's go."

They took off running at a steady pace, taking it more slowly than Frost would have liked for Min's sake. As smart as he seemed to be, a world class athlete he was not. He was gasping for air before they had even made it a mile. One glance at his red face and they slowed to a walk.

"Sorry," he gasped sheepishly.

"Save your breath," Frost responded-more harshly than she meant to. She couldn't help but glance over her shoulder, but there were no signs of pursuing Tarkata. Maybe they would be all right after all.

They were almost halfway across the valley, giving her some hope. A stream meandered up ahead, trickling quietly in its banks. At least nature hadn't forsaken all of Outworld. She made a mental note of its location in case they needed it later.

The mountains loomed larger and despite their morbid colors they were incredibly inviting in Frost's eyes. They burrowed amongst the rock face once they arrived and settled down again to discuss their plans.

Huddled against an outcropping Frost said," We can't go east anymore, unless we want to go mountain climbing."

"Sub-Zero didn't say anything about the portal being on top of a mountain," Kenshi said, crouching down beside her.

"We should go south then," LiXue suggested through Min, at least until we hit the rest of the mountain range.

Frost nodded wordlessly. The last thing she wanted to do was scale a cliff while the Tarkata were on their tail. She couldn't defend herself on flat land as it was. If only they could be sure what the Tarkata were up to.

Kenshi's head shot up and he poked his head over the outcropping like a human prairie dog. "I hear someone," he whispered.

Frost and Min strained their ears, but could hear nothing but their own breathing. His head dropped down and he crept forward until he was flush with the edge of the rock they hid behind.

Frost had barely enough time to wonder what was going on when a green flash went by, only to be snatched by Kenshi's telekenesis. One of the most beautiful women she had ever seen was being held a few inches above the ground like she was being grasped by a giant, glowing, blue fist. The ebony-skinned woman was struggling futily against the translucent barrier and Frost noticed that her style of clothing was familiar.

"Who are you?" The woman demanded in an earthly voice. "What do you want?"

"I think it's customary for the captors to ask the question," Frost said. "You're from Edenia, aren't you?" The woman watched her distrustfully and slowly nodded. "Let her go, Kenshi, I think she's on our side."

Kenshi didn't seem too pleased about taking orders, but released his mental grip. "How does her being from Edenia make her a 'good guy'?"

"No self-respecting Edenian would be on the side of Outworld," the woman said bitterly. "Those that are don't last long," she added, looking towards the forest with a sneer. "Outworld has allied itself with the Dragon King."

"It seems that everyone is allying with the Dragon King," Kenshi noted.

"Onaga offers power and control. It's an intoxicating combination for many," their former captive said. "Those that don't ally themselves with him are destroyed."

"So we've noticed," Frost said angrily. "I take it you are part of the Edenian resistance or something?"

"I am Jade, a retainer to the Edenian throne. Princess Kitana was killed with many of the great Earthrealm warriors in the first attack on Deadly Alliance. He possessed their souls and marched on our Imperial Palace."

"This doesn't sound good," Frost said.

"No, it is not. He imprisoned Queen Sindel, and I barely freed her in time to escape. Now there is a pretender on the throne and we fear she will join forces with Onaga."

"So all this is about the Dragon King trying to take over the realms?" Min asked, looking a little lost.

"It is more than that. Jade answered. "If Onaga gets control of all the Kamidogu and joins all our realms together, it will awaken the one being and we will all be destroyed."

"What's a Kamidogu?" Kenshi asked.

"The talisman that controls the portals and allows access to the interrealm nexus. They must be destroyed!" Jade looked at them plaintively. "The realms must fight together to kill Onaga or we will all die."

"The realms are never going to work together," Frost argued.

"Of course not. The Outworlders fight the Edenians. Seido fights with the Chaosrealm. Earthrealm and the Netherealm are only concerned for themselves. Those who would fight together are either dead or deceived into believing other threats loom larger."

"So what you are saying is that we are all going to die, and there's nothing we can do about it," Kenshi said. "That's not very inspiring."

"There is always something to be done," Jade said. "If there is no hope there would be no point in trying and I would have laid down to die in the Living Forest."

"Queen Sindel is researching the spell to transfer Onaga's body into his intended vessel. If he were killed before he regained his true power..."

"But what about the kamidigies or whatever they are?" Frost asked. "Why doesn't anyone just destroy those and worry about taking out the Dragon King later?"

"They are too busy fighting amongst themselves and do not know of the danger the kamidogu represent. Onaga guards them closely, very few know of their existence. I only learned from the traitor who found the lost research on them." Jade looked from one horrified face to another. "Will you help me?"

"How?" Min asked. "You just said we would have to do the near impossible."

"It is only the Queen and I against the whole of the Dragon King's army. Anyone and anything would help us. Please, I am begging you to help us…for all our sakes.

Frost looked at the others' determined faces and came to a sudden realization. It was going to be a long time before she saw Earthrealm again. She swallowed. "What do you need us to do?"


	12. eleven

* * *

Chapter Eleven

* * *

The journey to Onaga's palace was a treacherous one. It seemed as if the Tarkata swarmed around the palace, nestled as it was amongst the mountains, like bees defending their hive.

Twice they were almost caught when a patrol smelled something wrong, but Jade or Kenshi quickly dispatched them at a distance with a boomerang or thought. The Tarkata had finer senses than any human, and they had to take the most roundabout route the whole way for fear of being detected.

Their main liability was Min, who-while well intentioned-was totally ill-suited for stealth. He was trying his best and only nearly exposed them a few times by making noises at inappropriate times. Despite his lack of stamina, he was holding up well and did not complain once when they continued through the night without stopping to rest.

Jade led them along the ridge of mountains until they faced the south side of the palace. "There is a secret entrance underneath the temple. It will take us directly into the dungeons," she said, pointing down at their intended destination.

Frost couldn't help but think it was a bad idea to start out where they would probably finish.

Jade carefully pushed aside a small boulder and crawled into a space that looked barely wide enough to accommodate Kenshi's wide shoulders. "Last one to enter, pull the stone back into place," came her muffled voice.

Min eyed the hole with intense distrust and shivered. "I don't like small spaces," he whined. "And there's no way we can take our packs in there."

"Well, I guess we'll have to leave them behind," Frost said. "Now get in!"

"If you'd like, you can stay out here and be killed by those beasts," Kenshi said, shoving him towards the entrance and crawling in after him.

LiXue and Frost stared at each other a few moments before the smaller woman gestured for Frost to go ahead. She wasn't too thrilled with the tiny space either, but at least there was a chance to survive if she followed the others.

Once LiXue had hidden the entrance, the entire passageway was black. She felt ahead carefully until she touched Kenshi's ankle. "We're all inside," she informed him. Jade must have heard her because the whole line started inching their way slowly ahead.

"There's a steep drop ahead," Jade warned them, after which Frost promptly skidded down it uncontrollably, landing with her face in Kenshi's backside much to her embarrassment. The rest of the way was uneventful except for the few scraped palms and knees and occasional bumping of heads on the ceiling. Finally a trickle of light came filtering through the small space.

Jade carefully removed a grate and placed it on the ground, slithering out of the shaft like a snake. Min tumbled out after her, with the rest quickly following suit, albeit more gracefully. They replaced the grate and moved quickly through the halls, hiding in the shadows whenever one of the many guards passed on patrol.

Finally, they slipped into the small room, hidden behind a series of false walls, where the Queen of Edenia paced, waiting for her trusted retainer to arrive. She smiled benignly as they entered and rushed to greet the new arrivals graciously.

The queen bore an uncanny likeness to the Bride of Frankenstein; especially if the bride was into purple fetish gear, in Frost's humble opinion. She was seriously beginning to wonder if Edenian women ever wore pants or anything besides lingerie. While their clothes were beautiful, they didn't seem very practical to fight in.

Her thoughts were broken by Queen Sindel greeting her warmly, although a quiet sorrow lay in the queen's pretty features. Here was a ruler who seemed to have seen much in her long life span.

"Have you learned anything else?" Jade asked eagerly of her queen.

"Not much," the queen replied sadly. "I fear we may never have enough knowledge to be truly prepared."

"What do we know now?" Kenshi asked.

"Onaga has been reborn into a body that is not his own. His body lies deep within the tombs beneath this very palace," Sindel said carefully. "We now possess the incantation for the resurrection ritual. If we can force Onaga's soul back into its intended vessel, we may be able to slay him while he retains his mortal form."

"That sounds complicated. Where do we come in?" Frost asked, unsure of what they could do to help with any sort of magical ritual.

"The Tarkata would overwhelm us if Onaga called for them. We need time to perform the ritual," Sindel said gravely. The implication of her words was clear.

"You…you need us to be a distraction," Min said quietly.

The queen looked vexed but nodded sadly. "I am afraid to ask it of you, it will not be an easy task."

It wasn't just a hard task, it was one that was nearly impossible to complete successfully. To take on a few Tarkata had nearly killed them, and now they were supposed to lure as many as possible into a fight. It was suicidal.

Min was the first to answer. "I will help you," he said, shocking Frost.

LiXue affirmed her commitment next, "Better to die a warrior's death than to die cowering before the Dragon King."

"If you truly believe Onaga will kill us all if he succeeds in uniting the realms, I will fight." Kenshi's jaw was set in grim determination.

All eyes were on her now. She had come so far, and now she was supposed to sacrifice herself? They had no idea if Queen Sindel's plan would work at all, even if they were a successful distraction. But if the fate of the realms truly hung in the balance...

There may be no Earthrealm to go home to if she refused to help. "I'll do it," she said, trying to hide the quiver in her voice.

Queen Sindel's smile turned to relief. "There may be hope yet."

For such an amazingly simple plan, it was going to take some incredibly complex maneuvering to carry it out successfully. The basics were easy to follow; break into the Dragon King's lair, wreak havoc. The trick, of course, was to not die painfully in the process.

They had parted ways with the Queen and her servant as soon as they had left the chamber where they met, and now they slunk off to what could be their doom as the royalty of Edenia marched off to save the universe. It hardly seemed fair.

None of them had asked for this. Min should still have been sitting in his quiet home, pondering the mysteries of the village. LiXue should have been practicing her martial arts in the barracks, preparing to keep the village safe from outsiders. Kenshi should have caught up with Sifu and be hurrying to the rendez-vous point.

But they weren't. Instead they were all preparing to lay down their lives to try and buy some time. All because one day she decided to take something she knew she shouldn't have.

Beside her, Min was fidgeting with the ties on his robe as they walked.

Of all of them, he was the least likely to survive, and he knew it. "Min, " she whispered. " Why are you doing this?"

He paused, and licked his dry lips. "Because someone has to," he said simply.

LiXue was signing something to him on his other side. "She says you shouldn't blame yourself if we should die. We all chose this."

"No, you didn't," she whispered violently. "You were thrown into this when I showed up on your doorstep."

Min smiled sadly. "We could have left at any time. We chose this path. I, for one, intend to follow it until it ends, one way or another."

"Wait," Kenshi whispered. "Someone is coming."

They leaned back against the wall, trying to blend in with the shadows as best as possible. A figure dressed in red with his face wrapped in black slunk past, with the flickering image of a man following after him. The hairs on Frost's arm prickled when they passed by, like she was crossing a graveyard.

"Ermac," Kenshi said. "I can sense them. But there was someone else..."

Min was staring wide-eyed. "I think it was a ghost."

"Ermac is made up of many souls, you may have been sensing his many beings." Kenshi looked concerned. "I don't understand what he is doing here, he used to work for Shao Kahn, but I helped free them."

"Maybe he decided to throw in with Onaga too," Frost suggested.

"No, they were too anxious to be free. I don't understand any of this anymore." Kenshi looked at the ground. "I wish I knew where they were going."

"Down to the dungeons it looks like," Frost reported. "Maybe they'll attract some of the Tarkata too."

The double doors leading to the Dragon King's lair loomed ominously ahead. Ornately carved, they wouldn't have been out of place in the Forbidden City, if only they weren't guarded by two hideous beasts.

"On my mark," Kenshi said, his blade was already out and to the ready. "One..."

Frost drew a trembling breath and squeezed Min's arm hard.

"Two..."

LiXue's face was set in a fierce mask.

"Go!"

All four charged at the surprised guards who had no time to react before Kenshi's steel severed neck from shoulders. The other three threw their weight against the barrier, forcing it open just enough to slip through before it clanged shut behind them all, trapping them with the Kamidogu.

The Kamidogu stood on six altars, glittering strangely in the light emanating from the lava pools. They were beautiful in an unearthly way, and a part of Frost was saddened that they must be destroyed. Outside the great chamber, they could hear the Tarkata gathering and trying to force open the heavy doors.

Kenshi struck the nearest kamidogu, a blue rectangular one, with his sword, but it merely rebounded, leaving a nick on the edge. They hadn't thought about how they would destroy the Kamidogu before charging in.

How does one destroy the artifact that controls the portals of a realm? Do you smash it against the ground? Smite it with your sword? Cast it into the fiery depths from whence it was forged? They had no idea, and they had seconds to find out.

LiXue lashed out with her whip at a green and blue Kamidogu, but it was only knocked from its holder. But when Min grabbed a purple one from its place and dashed it to the ground it shattered into dust, sending up a plume of plum colored smoke.

Frost tried to follow suit, but the red horned one she chose merely bounced. There was some sort of pattern to it; they just needed to figure out what it was. She flung a ying yang shaped kamidogu into the lava, but it bobbed along peacefully like a rubber duck in a bathtub.

Kenshi stormed over and struck the blue and green kamidogu, causing it to crack and shatter like the one Min had destroyed.

"That's it!" Frost had a burst of inspiration. "Min destroyed Outworld's. That one must have been Earth's. We need someone or something from the realm to destroy its Kamidogu."

"We don't have people from the other realms!" Min said shrilly.

"Then we'll have to take them to the other realms."

"How?" Kenshi yelled over the noise at the door.

"Well, what good are things to control portals if there are none nearby? I bet the portals are somewhere in the palace." It was getting hard to hear anything over the commotion.

"But how do we get out of here?"

"Ask her if she can freeze things!" Frost ordered Min.

"What do you need her to freeze?" Min asked.

"Everything! Anything! When they finally break open the door, just freeze everything."

The doors were buckling under the strain, and the nervous energy coursing through her body was almost too much to bear. She snatched the nearest Kamidogu-the red one she had tried to dash earlier-as Min and LiXue did the same with the blue square and yellow horn. Kenshi

fumbled for a moment, and then fished the final Kamidogu out of the lava with the tip of his katana.

Frost concentrated as best she could, closing her eyes and trying to think of nothing but cold and ice. Dimly she heard the doors cave in, and she opened her eyes to the same sensation she had felt when she had fought her first Tarkatan.

The beasts seemed to be moving in slow motion as her friends forced their way through them, Kenshi awkwardly cutting a path through them holding his sword with one hand, and LiXue spinning her whip, catching any who tried to fill in the gap. Frost charged in after them, knocking several Tarkatan down by just force alone.

Apparently the guards hadn't been expecting their prey to burst out of the chamber, because they were making their way down the corridors still clutching the Kamidogu before half of the Tarkata realized what was going on. The confusion they left behind would have been funny if they weren't running for their lives.

"Where do we go?" Min screeched, trying to keep up with the faster three.

"I don't know, your guess is as good as mine!" Frost yelled back. The Tarkata were beginning to organize again, following them at a distance.

Kenshi grabbed them all and practically threw them down a side hallway as another group of Tarkata rushed past chasing an older man in white. "Who the hell was that?" Frost asked as Tarkata flew past, not noticing the group hiding not a yard away.

"Does it matter?" Kenshi asked. "Maybe they'll all start chasing him instead."

LiXue peeked her head around the corner, and waved at them to continue. Without any clue to where the portals were it didn't matter which way they went, and LiXue made an arbitrary left turn. The Tarkata were still searching for them, they could hear footsteps tromping around above them and in the distance, but it seemed as though they had bought themselves some time.

They ran past a set of dark, wooden doors set with silver, and Frost's Kamidogu vibrated so hard she dropped it in surprise. It hit the floor

with such a clatter, she half expected to see the Tarkata come running. The other Kamidogu were glowing brightly, casting a rainbow down the hall.

"This must be it," Min said, looking up at the doors. The silver embossing was some sort of circular pattern, forming a repeating ring around the double pull rings. He grabbed a hold of one ring and yanked with all his might, but nothing happened. Frost ran over to help him, and even their combined weight did nothing.

Someone grabbed her waist, and she felt cold fingers bite into her skin as LiXue added her pull. Kenshi stood back, and Frost wondered why he wasn't helping when she saw the ring begin to glow a telltale teal. The door slowly creaked open, as they yanked, praying they would get it open before they were found.

Kenshi slid closer, and Frost could see he was biting his lip so hard it bled. "I can't do this much longer," he hissed through clenched teeth.

"Just a little farther, but be ready to run," Frost whispered back, her voice strained from the exertion. The door slid open a few more inches. "Go!"

The door slammed shut just as Kenshi finished slipping through, almost clipping his heel, and he cursed quietly.

They were standing in a massive chamber, with six large rings. Four of them were filled with a brightly colored light, while two stood dead and cold. "Those must be the portals for Earthrealm and Outworld," Min said, disappointment making his voice sound sad. "I hope the rest of them are color coded."

"Think of it as a cosmic game of Go Fish," Kenshi said sarcastically. "Just choose correctly the first time, I doubt we'll have time to do this again."

Frost looked down at her Kamidogu, quietly shining its blood red light on her chest. "Why do I get the feeling the angry looking portal is mine?" she asked.

A loud crash at the door sent them scurrying towards the portals. LiXue charged towards the yellow portal and threw herself through it like she thought she had to crash through. Min and Kenshi went next, Min screwing his eyes tightly closed as he stepped through. All that was left was Frost and the red portal. "Bonzai," she whispered to herself as she gingerly stepped through.


	13. twelve

* * *

Chapter Twelve

* * *

It was a lot hotter than Frost had expected. She was sorry she had ever complained about being cold in Outworld. The universe has a nasty tendency to turn anything she wished for against her.

To say things looked bleak was an understatement. She had stumbled out of the portal and into a town built on a lava-surrounded island. The buildings weren't in and of themselves disturbing, but the rotting, hanging bodies decorating many of the roofs was a signal that she just wasn't in Kansas anymore.

More bodies littered the paths the way trash lay about the streets of Earthrealm and the pedestrians she saw paid them no mind, kicking them aside when they were in the way. She thought she saw one of them take a hearty bite out of one of the most rotten looking corpses, but upon further consideration she realized that she didn't want to know if she were right in that or not.

Behind her, the portal still cast its light on the platform it settled on, but she was having second thoughts about destroying the Kamidogu right away. She wasn't too sure she wanted to be stranded here with no obvious means of escape. Surely the destruction of the other five Kamidogu would be enough to keep Onaga at bay, at least for a little while.

She walked slowly down the ramp, carefully avoiding the entrails dripping from a few of the less savory remains. Besides the stifling heat, the air carried the smell of sulphur and acid. Brimstone, if her frazzled brain was remembering correctly. The air was thick with it, and she felt her lungs burn with every breath.

A few Tarkata walked the streets, but they didn't appear to be interested in her. Neither were the guards that rushed to and fro, seeming to be doing more hurrying than guarding. None of the pedestrians were paying attention to anything but themselves.

Still, she didn't want to be seen carrying a powerful artifact in a realm known for its treachery. She had no delusions of safety, she was sure now that she was bearing the Kamidogu of the Netherealm.

She tore the bottom and sleeves of her tunic off to escape the heat, baring her stomach to the hot air, and wrapped her parcel in them as best she could. Her pants had already been "ventilated" by her earlier fall while running from the Tarkata, but were still holding heat all too well. She thought about losing her boots too, but was afraid of taking a misstep into the lava filled channels. Furthermore, the steam coming from the group was a good clue that the ground wasn't going to feel like vinyl tile on a winter's morning.

While the Netherealm was turning out to be a horrible place to even visit, it wasn't exactly as she had imagined it. She was expecting more of a biblical depiction with lots of wailing and crying and gnashing of teeth. Or at least Dante's version. She wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved over that.

A few smaller Oni were having a hushed conversation behind one of the buildings, and curious, she crept over to listen. Any information was valuable when she was working with nothing.

They were speaking in some sort of garbled speech-sounding almost like the backwards subliminal messages on her father's old vinyl records. But as interesting as it seemed to be, it was still completely incomprehensible to her ears. Maybe she would have better luck eavesdropping on the Tarkata.

She stole quietly away, going the long way around the structures in an effort to avoid the central path of the village. There was no good excuse or reason for her to be there, and her clothing and general attractiveness marked her as an outsider. It wouldn't do any good to be captured while she had the Kamidogu…who knew how many were working for Onaga in that wretched place?

All the Oni would potentially be swayed by promises of power, and above all else, freedom. The power to come and go freely would be irresistible to those trapped suffering in the dark, and very few would have any qualms about what they did to get it.

She hurried out of the small village and crossed onto a plain that was half hidden in acidic steam. It would be easy to remain hidden among the wandering figures until she came up with a plan.

One of the figures nearly tripped over her, and when she looked up to berate him, she was horrified to realize he hadn't been able to see her at all. His face was completely missing, it looked like it had been chewed off by a massive set of teeth, along with part of his arm. Her stomach lurched perilously and she only succeeded in keeping the contents of her stomach on the inside by concentrating on the pattern of her pants.

More of the walking lurched past as she tried to think, and it became almost a sort of sick game for her to try and guess the gruesome death that had finished them. One was shot full of arrows like a pin-cushion, another chest was caved in. She didn't want to think about what they had done to deserve the brutal damage. If she died there, would she end up as one of the hideous things staggering the plains?

But thinking about death only made her worry about her friends again. Had they been able to destroy their Kamidogu? Did Queen Sindel trap Onaga in the rotting body? Were the realms still fighting?

Could they finish the fight without her destroying the final Kamidogu?

She felt selfish, but the fear of remaining trapped lay heavily on her mind. It would be nice to think she hadn't done anything bad enough to warrant an extended stay, but what if no one came to rescue her? What if no one could?

On the other hand, she could be the one thing standing between the heroes and ending the threat of the Dragon King once and for all. People could be dying needlessly as she worried about herself.

Did she want that hanging over her head?

She stood up with great effort and walked trembling to the edge of the plains, to the channel of lava. The lava boiled angrily, and she took an involuntary step back as a large bubble burst. Now or never! she decided and cast the Kamidogu into the lava, wrapping and all, before she could change her mind.

The lava bubbled up alarmingly as she watched, washing over the artifact like it were trying to swallow it whole, and with one final burst the Kamidogu sank, sending up a hiss of yellow and red steam as it disappeared from view. Her way out was gone, sinking to the bottom of the river of fire, and she half-heartedly considered following it. But the all too human desire to live kicked in and she cursed her misfortune from this side of life.

A slow tear tricked down her cheek. Once again her plans had been dashed by circumstances beyond her control. If she didn't do something quickly, she might never make it home. But it was hard to be forlorn when she was so angry. Angry because she was once again trapped. Angry because she was lost. Angry because if she began to despair she doubted she'd ever stop.

Whatever she needed to do, standing around and moping wasn't it. She gave herself a physical and mental shake. Tears would get her nothing in a realm without compassion. Tears were weakness in an emergency, and she was determined to stay strong.

But which way to go? It wasn't as if Glenda the good witch would show up and point her in the right direction. There was no one to rely on but herself and what was left of her abilities.

She began to walk quickly away from the plain, finding another bridge and crossing it. This island was less steamy, but contained more beings. Oni, in fact. Small, ugly things with pale faces and wrinkled faces. They scurried about like rats, pausing only to hiss and cackle at each other, looking like the vermin they were.

They were agitated by something, but it didn't seem to be her. Surely they would have smelled her fresh blood by now and done something if they were looking for her. Instead they crawled over the black rocks spiraling upward, congregating near a dark figure in the distance. At first she thought the distance was playing tricks on her eyes, but it appeared that the figure was entirely black from head to toe. It didn't matter though, she would not be exposing herself to the Oni by marching straight through them.

She backtracked through the plain of the damned, shivering as they ambled around mindlessly, intent on nothing but their own despair. The worst of Earthrealm was nothing like this, there was always some hint of life or joy, peace, hope, or at least release. Here, there was nothing but the pitiful existence within the realm. No wonder the Oni had been so desperate to escape with Quan Chi.

She chose to turn from the village, with its corpses hanging like flags. The portal ring was empty, no spitting red anymore, just nothingness. That avenue of escape was closed to her at least for now-there was no use standing around and hoping desperately for a fluke to open it again.

There was some sort of monument in the distance, spiraling higher than any of the buildings in the village. It was the color of obsidian, but there seemed to be a green glow coming from the top. Maybe she could find something there. In any case, it was a better idea than standing around and wishing she were someplace else.

There were less of the damned wandering around as she drew closer to the black tower. Either they were limited to the plains, or something was keeping them away. The Oni were less numerous too, and the ones who stalked this area were uglier, and big enough to cause the ground to shake when they stomped past. Their number too, dropped off as she continued on her way, sending a mental warning.

She dimly wondered how many species of Oni there were. Perhaps there was a larger breed that controlled this area and she was walking into the belly of the beast. She'd seen the one known as Moloch briefly in Shang Tsung's palace, and she didn't want to see anything larger than that. Something that huge would kill her before she had a chance to run away.

Suddenly she wasn't so sure heading for the asymmetrical landmark was the best course of action. Her heart was pounding by the time she came close enough to see its true shape. There were six tall spires surrounding the tallest one, the one that she had seen the glow shining out of. A woman dressed solely in white stood at the bottom. A crooked sword hung at her side, and a large hat and veil shielded her face from view.

While white may be considered the color of purity in some cultures, it was the color of death in many others. But before she could decide whether or not to approach the woman, the hat lifted, and the woman stared at her for a few moments before speaking.

"You are not a demon," she said, disappointment clouding her voice.

"No, no I'm not," Frost wasn't sure what to make of this strange being. How many people in their right minds wanted to meet demons? Those that did were generally classified in her book as "the bad guys."

The woman huffed angrily, crossing her arms aggressively over her chest, with a sour look on her features. Her oversized hat once again hid her eyes. Frost didn't like her already, any hopes of getting help from this woman dashing on the hot ground. Who was angry when their visitors weren't some kind of evil hell spawn anyway?

Who would wear such ridiculous headgear?

"Why are you so disappointed I'm not a demon?" she asked coldly, crossing her own arms.

The woman looked up again. "I am Ashrah, a demon-hunter, when I slay enough of the foul beasts I shall be free of this place."

The woman in white had her full attention now. "You know how to escape here?" Maybe this woman would be useful after all.

The woman held up the crooked sword, and it seemed to glow slightly. "My kriss purifies me as I dispel the demons. Soon I will have become too pure for this place and will be expelled."

"You will be too pure for this place?" Frost said with a smirk. "If such a thing were possible, why haven't the others trapped here tried it. I bet they want to leave as much as you do."

Ashrah frowned. "Only I discovered the kriss and only I wield it. Who else would dare to face the darkest of the damned?"

Frost glared at her angrily. This demon-slayer was more arrogant than even she had been. "Well, we're not all here on a pleasure cruise. If I thought it would get me the hell out of here, I'd try and take on Satan himself with it."

"Lucifer is dead. He was killed long, long ago by the Dark Lord Shinnok. How could you not know that?" Ashrah looked at her in confusion.

"Because I'm not supposed to be here," Frost retorted angrily. "I've just come here to save the universe and now I've managed to get myself stuck."

Ashrah regarded her warily. "Only those with tainted hearts can come here voluntarily," she said. "No one can just enter freely."

Frost's jaw fell open. Only those with tainted hearts... She'd like to think that she hadn't been so darkly tainted from her past mistakes. But how had she been allowed to enter? Ashrah could be lying, but why would she? "You lie," she hissed angrily, recovering her wits.

"It matters not if you believe me," Ashrah said, shrugging. "You do not have a foul enough soul for me to concern myself with you."

"If you were really so pure, you'd be more concerned with others than your own freedom," Frost spat at her. "I hope you rot here. At least I was helping others when I came here, what did you do to deserve this?"

"I was born here," Ashrah snarled. "Not all of us are so lucky as to have a choice."

"There is always a choice," Frost snapped back. "Why didn't you escape earlier?"

"I couldn't," Ashrah said, and turned her back to walk away.

"Couldn't or didn't want to?" Frost growled, but did the same. Nothing bothered her so much as the self-righteous. At least the sinners admitted they were sinning. The self-righteous did the same but kept their faces cleaner. She hoped Ashrah tried and purified the realm by removing herself.

It still left an intriguing idea in her mind. Could someone really redeem themselves enough that they would be too pure for the Netherealm? Where exactly did you get the chance to redeem yourself in a place full of torture? Why weren't any of the Oni trying that? Surely they were just as anxious to be free as Ashrah was.

She bit her lip again, deep in thought. Why was it only the kriss that allowed Ashrah to purify herself? Had the demon-slayer been chosen, had she earned it, or had she merely been lucky? If Frost marched over and rammed that thing down the demon-hunters' throat, which one of themwould be purified? Was there a worse punishment for killing people once you had already landed yourself in the Netherealm?

She sighed wearily. Likely killing Ashrah was not her best option, no matter how much she entertained the notion of shoving her sword in places that it most certainly did not belong. Little good would come out of obsessing over the idea either, it was the thought that counted over all, wasn't it?

Little good would come out of standing around the black spire like a streetwalker waiting for a john either. She was going to have to find her own way out elsewhere if Ashrah was going to be hogging the redemption route. There had to be some other way of escape.

Maybe there was a hidden portal somewhere. Raiden had said that Quan Chi had escaped to Outworld from a forgotten portal, hadn't he? There could be more, far into the reaches of the Netherealm. She could try to search for them, as futile as the effort sounded. It was better than nothing, or just sitting down to cry like she really wanted to do.

A good cry sounded very good right then, but whether that was an effect of the realm or an internal want was hard to tell. This didn't seem like the type of place where the citizens felt random periods of rapture where they leapt about dancing and giggled uncontrollably for the sheer joy of it. But the thought of an Oni running round laughing like a school girl brought a smile to herself despite the nagging feeling of doom in the back of her brain. There may be some hope for her yet if she could smile in spite of herself.

She set off with a slight spring in her step, still picturing the giddy Oni. She hadn't the slightest idea of where one would look for an abandoned portal, but she had a pretty good idea that she wasn't going to find one around the village or any large monumental structures. Out into the wilds of the Netherealm seemed like the best bet, although, she couldn't decide if they could still be the wilds if there was no wilderness. She giggled maniacally. The realm must really be getting to me, she thought a little hysterically and started walking as fast as she could away from the monument.


	14. thirteen

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

* * *

The Netherealm was turning out to be a lot like the Wastelands of Outworld, only hotter. And with less Tarkata. It was like the gods got tired of creating and just sort of gave up once they made the area of the Netherealm surrounding the first portal. There was just nothing but molten lava and rock and the occasional strange outcropping like someone sneezed while they were making the ground.

It was also amazingly boring, despite the inherent danger of wandering around Hell by yourself. She tried to entertain herself by thinking of what her companions would have been doing if they were still with her. Kenshi would probably be complaining about the smell and getting antsy for a fight. LiXue would be paranoid and constantly looking over her shoulder. Min would be wandering along with his face buried in a scroll, tripping over himself and everyone else as he tried to translate his scribbles. But thinking about them only made her chest feel tight.

Maybe part of the torture of the Netherealm was not knowing if her friends lived or died. If she knew they were dead she could grieve, but instead she was left in a state of limbo, wanting to think they were alive but knowing that the chances of their survival were slim. Every time she hoped for something it blew up in her face, but how could she not help but hope for the best for the people she had come so far with.

She hoped for a lot of things. She hoped for her friends safety, hoped Sindel had succeeded, hoped Ashrah tripped on her damn sword, hoped she got out of the Netherealm, hoped Sifu would forgive her, hoped Min transcribed the markings in the Traitors Hall... but that's all there was. Hope. There was nothing she could do it seemed.

She couldn't even help herself.

And she was furious about it. She'd never been so helpless before. Always it had been her choosing. Now there was nothing left to do but hope for the best and let fate have its way with her. Karma was a bitch sometimes.

There was no reliable way to tell how long she had been walking. Her legs ached fiercely, but so did her feet from the unforgiving stone. She couldn't sit on the ground, it was so hot, it was painful. So she just kept walking, hoping against hope she would stumble over a long lost portal and be saved.

People in life rafts must have felt the same way. Just waiting for something to happen, someone to rescue them. Dying must come as a blessing.

She would have given anything for a cool place to sit and rest. A cave. A rock to sit on. Just someplace to keep her lower body from screaming at her to stop and let it recover. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she fell asleep. She'd probably wake up and find all the skin melted off her face or something equally disgusting.

She desperately tried to think of some good that could come of all of it, to try and shake the despair welling up within, but nothing came.

There was nothing good about the Netherealm.

"I am not hot," she said aloud, in protest of reality. There were monks who survived extreme temperatures by meditation and mental exercises, why couldn't she? "I am cool as a cucumber."

Somehow her body didn't agree with her mouth. "I am practically shaking it is so cold," she told her rebellious sweat glands. "I will freeze to death if I stay out here much longer." She tried to think of cold things like snowstorms and ice cream and the Frozen Temple, but it was hard when she was sweating so much it felt like her features were dripping off of her face. It did feel a tiny bit cooler, but maybe that was just wishful thinking.

"I am freezing," she said again.

"Has the heat gone to your head?" a slimy voice asked behind her and she jumped.

The speaker was a scaly creature with a series of sharp horns on the crest of its skull. Its mouth was filled with a set of yellow fangs dripping something she suspected was acid. It looked vaguely feminine, but it may have been its smaller size that gave her that impression. With the size of its claws, it shouldn't have been able to sneak up on her without her hearing, but she was inclined to blame the heat for any lapses in her attention.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked grumpily. It didn't occur to her until after she said it that perhaps it wasn't the smartest thing to say to a demon.

The creature snorted. "Really, Frost, I'm insulted," it tried to sound indignant, but the fangs got in the way. "You don't recognize me in my true form?"

She was glad to say that no, no she didn't. She was fairly certain the people she dealt with weren't secretly demons in disguise. Unless of course, they didn't disguise it at all... "Sareena?" she asked incredulously.

It laughed heartily. "Very good..."

"Why, why do you look like that?" Frost asked. Sareena had to be one of the vainest people she knew, seeing the fastidious demon looking like an overgrown gremlin was a shock. Not to mention it was more than a little confusing.

"It seemed like the most appropriate outfit for the occasion," she smiled a predator's smile and stretched her claw tipped digits like they were aching to dig into flesh.

"What are you doing here? I thought you came to hide at the Temple to keep from coming back," Frost tried not to flinch as those claws came dangerously close to her face.

"Quan Chi is dead. There's only one place he could have gone. I want to make sure he stays here, forever." Sareena hissed, and a bit of her spit hit the ground, leaving a steaming hole. "That bastard must pay!"

"Do you know where to find him?" Frost asked, stepping away from the acid dripping off of Sareena's fangs.

"He will try to reach his palace," Sareena snarled. "I will tear him to pieces before he even sets foot inside. He will regret the day he enslaved me forever." Her fingers were clenching like she had them wrapped around the sorcerer's throat and was squeezing the life out of him.

A thought occurred to Frost. "Sareena, how did you get here?"

Sareena's head whipped around alarmingly. "I know of a portal. I used it to escape before." She paused and regarded Frost with a smirk. "You want to know where it is, don't you?"

Frost tried not to look interested, but the desperation must have been etched in her face for Sareena said, "If you will help me destroy Quan Chi, I will show you where it is."

It was a devil's bargain, and she knew it, but Frost agreed anyway. What choice did she have? And Quan Chi was a bad guy after all; she doubted she'd get in trouble by permanently removing him as a threat. It was Sareena holding up her part of the deal that she was worried about. There really was no reason for her to complete the bargain, worse yet; she could demand something else in the end.

"Why do you want to kill Quan Chi so badly?" Frost asked, as Sareena led her towards their destination.

Sareena's eyes swiveled to her, "Quan Chi used to control the Brotherhood of the Shadow. He trapped three of us in a deal, he would hide our hideous forms, and in return we would be his personal assassins. We did everything he ordered, and those that questioned were destroyed without mercy. All hated him, but we were forced to obey."

"A decade and a half ago Quan Chi contracted a Lin Kuei warrior to steal an amulet of immense power from the temple of the gods. With it, he and Shinnok would be able to escape the Netherealm."

"The elder of the Sub-Zeros, yes, there were two of them, succeeded in his mission and retrieved the amulet, only to be confronted by a furious Thunder God. Raiden sent him to the Netherealm to retrieve the amulet from Shinnok in the Prison of Souls."

"Quan Chi sent my sisters and I to kill the Lin Kuei, but when I was defeated, Sub-Zero spared my life. In return I betrayed Quan Chi in the hopes Sub-Zero would help me escape with him. But before either of us could do anything I was killed by Shinnok."

"Quan Chi resurrected me for the shear purpose of punishing me for my betrayal, and I spent many years in the deepest abyss of this wretched place, wasting away. But when Quan Chi fled the Netherealm to escape the hell spawn known as Scorpion, he did not realize that his magic would fade and those he had tried to restrain were freed."

"I escaped through a hidden portal and soon realized I could keep my beautiful form on my own. I have no need of the sorcerer at all anymore, and I plan to take my revenge. I want to see him broken and humiliated before I bind him to this place."

"You have some serious issues," Frost replied. "But tell me more about the older Sub-Zero."

Sareena raised one scaly brow in a mockery of the humanoid expression. "I don't know much about him, he died soon after he stole the amulet back from Shinnok."

"He stole an amulet off of Shinnok. Wasn't Shinnok some evil god?" Frost was now quite intrigued.

"He also defeated four gods to get the amulet in the first place," Sareena said. "It's a shame he died so young, he could have done much," she added sadly.

"Young? When was this?" Frost asked.

"Fifteen years ago maybe, I don't know, when you're thousands of years old you don't count the years like mortals," Sareena shrugged her scaly shoulders. "He was quite young for a human, he wasn't much out of his twenties I believe. I didn't ask. It didn't seem important at the time..."

"That doesn't make sense. How can he be the older brother if he was thirty fifteen years ago? He'd be, like, forty-five now," Frost protested.

Sareena regarded her with a slight smirk. "The Dragon Amulet has a great many benefits for its bearer. But the power it provides comes at a great price. Your sifu is much younger than you would think he is."

"Oh." Frost was quiet for a moment, lost in her own thoughts. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to be Grand Mistress so badly if the price was so high. What else had Sifu had to sacrifice to be on top?

She tried to shake the thoughts from her head. "You never said what you needed me to do."

Sareena laughed a short barking laugh, "You never asked. I need you to be bait."

"Bait?" Frost didn't like the sound of this at all.

"Yes, you will provide a distraction so I can take Quan Chi from behind."

Aside from the mental image the last part had given her, it still sounded like a horrible plan to her. Why did she always have to be the distraction? Just once she wanted to be able to take the lead and play the hero. Then again, she didn't want to face down the sorcerer that had helped kill the Mortal Kombat champion without her kori powers.

Sareena seemed sure of her self though, so perhaps Quan's powers had diminished. Of course, if she had six-inch claws and was spitting acid, she might be a lot more confident too. Maybe it was best for her to draw the attention and let Sareena take care of her own problems. Hopefully, Sareena wouldn't let Quan take care of her first.

She sighed heavily and followed Sareena farther into the bleak landscape.


	15. fourteen

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

* * *

Quan Chi's palace was a wreck. It seemed he had more enemies than he had anticipated, and when they couldn't find him they took out their anger on the next best thing. There were claw marks covering the walls, anything that could be torn down lay in tatters on the ground, and she was fairly certain she saw a few piles of feces of God knows what species.

Parts of the palace lay completely in ruin, still smoldering. Apparently he had some powerful enemies as well. She sincerely hoped that they had all had their fun and left already.

They entered from a large hole blown into the main wall, climbing over the rubble like insects. Sareena surveyed the destruction with an intense sense of satisfaction. "They will have looted everything worth taking already," she said toothily, still smiling.

"Isn't that a bad thing?" Frost asked.

"No, it is wonderful. It means Quan Chi will have no amulets or artifacts to rely on. I can only hope they raided his secret stores. It's been long enough that they should have found them by now." She looked from side to side slowly. "I think it is best if we enter the main hall directly. I don't want to risk running into any of the bigger nasties if they have taken up residence."

"You aren't exactly inspiring confidence here," Frost reiterated. "Tell me again why I have to be bait."

"Who else would draw off the Oni so I can deal with Quan Chi?" Sareena asked with an air of exasperation.

"But what if they corner me or something?" Frost protested.

"Then yell really loudly," Sareena said calmly to Frost's annoyance. "Meet me back here in an hour."

"An hour? How the hell am I supposed to figure out what time it is?"

"You're a smart girl, I'm sure you'll figure out something." With that she took off in a loping stride up the stairs leading to a large wooden door that had already been torn off its hinges by an earlier visitor. She disappeared before Frost could lodge another protest.

"This sucks," she told the realm in general, kicking at a piece of a statue and stubbing her toe badly. "This really, really sucks."

Well, Sareena hadn't said anything about going inside, had she? She couldn't miss the intended meeting time if she never left the courtyard. But an ear-piercing shriek rang through the air, and she found herself running inside to avoid whatever it was. Maybe she would just stay near the exit and watch Sareena from there.

The whole place was giving her the creeps. It could have just been the dead bodies in cages lining the walls. She wondered if they had been dead when Quan Chi fled the Netherealm. Dead bodies seemed to be quite the in thing to decorate your home within the Netherealm. Maybe there was an undead Martha Stewart stumbling around giving out interior decoration advice to the big shots. Maybe they just all had really bad taste.

At least none of the Oni Sareena was worried about seemed to be around. If they were anything like Drahmin or Moloch she'd be able to tell if they were coming from a mile away. They stunk something awful, although she fully admitted that after two weeks without a bath she probably was pretty disgusting herself. But at least she didn't attract swarms of flies.

She didn't want to know what she looked like. Between the matted dirt and blood, torn clothes and unwashed hair she probably fit right in with the permanent citizens of the Netherealm. If she didn't smell of live flesh and blood, she could probably have used it as a fairly effective disguise. Or at least maybe the smell would make most run in terror.

She wished Sareena had talked more about the elder Sub-Zero. Sifu had never mentioned a brother, although that could have been because of the elder's death. Why didn't the Lin Kuei celebrate a member who accomplished such an impressive feat? Unless he died doing something dishonorable.

She hadn't thought about that before. Sifu claimed the Lin Kuei had changed for the better, but what did they do to their dishonorable brethren? Where had all the former Lin Kuei gone? She knew seppuku was more common amongst the ninja clans, but was she supposed to perform it too? Was she going to be given a choice?

Maybe Sareena would know. She seemed to be good at ferreting out information that no one else was supposed to know. Sometimes, Frost had been certain Sareena was just kept around the temple by Sub-Zero to find out who was leaking information. She didn't seem to have any other talents besides slinking around and attempting to get into Sub-Zero's pants. Then again, that may have been the other reason she hadn't been kicked out yet.

Another keening cry cut through the air, and Frost mentally cringed. A whole hour in this place? Sareena had obviously lost her mind. Who took an hour to kill anyone? Of course, Sareena was probably going to drag it out as long as possible. Freed demon or not, she had a black heart and a mean streak bigger than the realm itself.

When she got to thinking of the realm, she began to wonder how large it was, exactly. From the way all the preachers went on, it seemed that the Netherealm contained a lot less lost souls than expected. Were there different layers? Sareena had mentioned something about the abyss, but she might have been speaking metaphorically. If not, she'd hate to see the lower levels; this was bad enough as it was.

A sudden crashing made her drop into a fighting stance. Sareena burst from the wall like some sort of angry goddess. "He was already dead!" she shrieked, ripping a piece from the stone wall as if it was made of cardboard. "He was mine." She tore a few more holes amongst the crumbling structure until she stalked out into the courtyard, stomping about like a three-year-old having a temper tantrum.

Frost didn't know what to say.


	16. fifteen

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

* * *

Sareena was still fuming as they walked across the hot stones of the Netherealm. She wasn't swearing in any human tongue, but Frost could still tell the curses she was throwing out were not something to be said in polite company. The she-demon looked like she would start combusting at any moment.

Unfortunately that meant Frost wasn't going to get any of her questions answered anytime soon. There were a lot of nagging questions that were driving her crazy now that she thought about the Sub-Zeroes and Quan

Chi and the clan history. Sareena might not know it all, but if there had been something fishy going on, she'd be more likely to tell Frost about it than any of the annals the clan had written.

There was a man kneeling on the ground in the distance, and Frost was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't even give him a second thought until they were out of sight again. He looked like he had been drawing something on the ground, but what? It wasn't likely he was preparing a game of hopscotch. Maybe it was another sorcerer.

Maybe it was a figment of her imagination? The heat was certainly getting to her, as was the acrid air. Every breath she drew felt like rubbing sandpaper on her throat and lungs. Her lips were long past cracked and bleeding and into the realm of excruciating pain. No wonder everyone in the Netherealm was a bastard, it was hard to be friendly when you felt like shit.

She hardly noticed Sareena had stopped screaming. Those fingers were still clenching and unclenching angrily, and every muscle in that demonic body was taut, ready to tear something apart. Frost just didn't want that something to be her. Dying now was not an option.

She didn't know how long they had been walking; she just knew it had been too long. It was hard to tell which way they went or how long it took without any landmarks. There could have been anything in the distance, but the smoke obscured anything more than a few hundred yards away. Sareena had to have some supernatural way of sensing their direction, because there was no way to do it by human or mechanical means.

They came abruptly to a wall. They would have seen it coming from a mile away literally if they had been above ground. It was carved with some sort of primitive arcane symbols, all sharp lines and vague horn shaped figures. It reminded her an awful lot of the animal cave paintings she had to study in her Art History course, but these were much, much older.

"This way!" Sareena made it sound like an order. She stomped to the right, following along the wall like it was a guide wire, one arm touching it at all times. Frost followed along dumbly, not caring where they were or where they were going.

Sareena seemed to be cheering up. "We're almost there," she said flatly. Well, cheered up for Sareena, anyway. Then she paused. "Do you hear something?"

Frost did. It sounded like voices, male ones. Sareena's form was changing, twisting, shrinking until it became the familiar female form she was used to seeing, strange tattoos and all.

"I'm going to check it out," the she-demon hissed, creeping forward. Frost hung back a few steps; it was someone else's turn to get something pointy shoved in their face. It wasn't like she was going to be worth anything if it was something dangerous, she was so tired she could barely walk in a straight line.

It sounded like the first voice was giving orders. It was a cold voice that made Frost's heart sink as soon as she heard it. It was the kind of voice that enjoyed hurting others. "Catch him from the back," was what she could make out, and Frost was sure the owners of the voices were going to hurt someone.

Sareena seemed very interested in what was going on, but there was an almost sad look in her eyes. "I know that voice," is all she said as she broke into a run. There was silence and Frost fought to keep up and then, one solitary scream of agony followed by a lot of thumps.

Sareena was the first to see them, and took off sprinting, yelling something incoherent but furious sounding as she went. Frost could just see the figures in the distance, but there was no way of telling who or what they were. It was a fight, but she couldn't tell who was doing the fighting. Two against two it seemed, with one side losing badly.

Her lungs and legs were aching, begging her to stop running, but something told her that she couldn't stop or she'd regret it. She could just make out Sareena on the losing side, fighting bravely but being knocked back time and time again. There was someone down and she was keeping in front of him as a sort of defense.

Something was wrong. Sareena didn't protect people.

It was the black figure she had seen earlier talking to the Oni. He and what looked like a robot were trying to slip around Sareena and get to the armored figure behind her. She would recognize that armor anywhere now.

Sifu was down on his knees, and although it looked like he was trying to force himself to his feet, he couldn't do it. Even from the rapidly closing distance she could see the glistening red dripping from his chest into the puddle beneath him.

She had no idea what she was going to do. Half of her brain told her to keep running past them all and find the portal. The other half was telling her to turn around and run in the other direction. But her heart was telling her she would never forgive herself if she did either.

She wasn't even sure if she made the decision to do something, or it was force of habit, but suddenly she was airborne and coming down on the back of the robot thing. Its gears whirred angrily as she landed on its back heavily, hanging onto it piggy back style. It tried to fling her off, but she hung on with the grim determination of a rodeo cowboy.

The other creature was bum rushing her, but Sareena blocked its path, transforming again into her hideous form. It bought her some time, but to do what? The thing was made of armored metal, and it was still clawing at her. Eventually it would catch her and throw her and then what?

Finally she pushed her hands into the wires of its neck, and willed them to freeze. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she concentrated on nothing but making him freeze. Everything she had left was put into forcing his limbs to slow down, making his internal temperature drop. He was freezing, she could feel it, and he was turning into an ice statue, ready to be shattered.

She fell off him heavily, landing on the ground on her rear, unable to do anything more graceful. Her legs were unsteady underneath her, but she crawled towards Sub-Zero as he struggled to rise himself. When he saw what she had managed to do, he sent an ice blast at the black creature, knocking him away from Sareena and freezing him to the ground.

Sareena turned to the two of them, and then to the rapidly melting ice. "We've got to go!" she said, gesturing towards where Frost guessed the portal to be.

Frost finally pushed herself to a semi-standing position and staggered the way the she-demon pointed as Sareena yanked Sub-Zero unceremoniously to his feet. He looked unsteady, but tottered dutifully in the correct direction, leaving a crimson trail as he went.

She had never seen anything so beautiful as the portal shining in its ring, even if it was purple and not blue like she had hoped. She tripped over the edge and fell through, but she didn't care, they were out of the Netherealm. Sareena came through after her, dragging Sub-Zero by the hand like he was a school kid.

The she-demon was saying something, but Frost couldn't understand her, it was like she was underwater. Everything was blurred and moving strangely, and all the sounds sounded distorted. But Sareena grabbed her by the arm, and she was forced to follow behind as Sareena pulled her.

She had no idea where the portal had led. It might have been the plains near the Living Forest, but it was hard to tell with everything looking like a purplish blob. It didn't really matter, in any event. Sareena was pulling the two of them along like they were rag dolls in her demon form, and they just followed along where she went.

There was more movement ahead, more garbled voices, and someone grabbed her other arm, putting it over their shoulder and letting her lean on them. Someone else grabbed her other side, and soon she was staggering along, blindly following whoever was helping her. She could just make out someone calling her name, and someone was hugging her as she sagged against his chest.

The familiar smell of moss was there. Min. Another pair of cold hands grabbed her, and took her from her first two helpers. Her friends had faired better than she would have imagined.

Her vision and hearing was clearing too. As her eyes readjusted themselves, Frost could see several other familiar faces, including one who was supposedly dead, but she let that one go for the moment. The Outworld Investigation Agents were all there, and Kenshi was helping Sub-Zero to sit down next to a robot that looked almost exactly like the one she had seen in the Netherealm, but canary yellow.

She recognized several other Earthrealm natives too, Johnny Cage and one of the monks she had met on Shang Tsung's isle. Princess Kitana was there too, looking quite happy to see her recently resurrected companion, which probably meant that Queen Sindel and Jade had completed their mission successfully.

For once something had gone right.

Min and LiXue helped Frost to a smooth rock and sat her down. "Are you okay?" Min asked, concern in his eyes.

"No," Frost said simply.

"Let me rephrase that," Min said. "Are you injured?"

She shook her head. "No." She swayed a bit even while sitting. "I'm just exhausted. I just want to fucking go home."

Sifu was being attended by Sonya, who was trying to staunch the flow of blood with someone's shirt. It might have even been his own. The color had completely drained from his face, leaving him an inhuman shade of pale. She tried to get his attention, but he only turned his head from her. She swallowed back a sob, and turned to Min.

"I just want to go home," she repeated.

Min hugged her again. "I know. Just a little bit longer and this will all be over."


	17. sixteen

AN- For some reason some of you got it into your cute heads that the story was over about 8 chapters ago. I hate to break it to you, but this monstrosity goes on for another 2 or 3 chapters.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

* * *

Frost woke with a gasp and groaned. The alarm clock beside her bed said it was three AM, and she glared at it angrily, though it hadn't woken her. She hadn't had a full night's sleep in weeks.

The covers were in a tangle on the end of the bed, she figured she must have kicked them off while she was dreaming. Normally she woke and found she had yanked off her comforter, but it wasn't usually so violently. Even with her thermostat set to what one friend described as "meat freezer" she was always too warm in the night.

The carpeting muffled her footsteps as she padded quietly to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face. The mirror above the sink reflected a haggard looking young woman with a shock of white hair sticking up at strange angles. It had grown longer since she had returned from the Outworld, falling into a more ladylike bob rather than the spiky style she wore when fighting.

It was the dark circles under her eyes that were bothering her the most. The less sleep she got the uglier they became, making her look older than her years. She knew they were bad when her mother asked her pointedly if she was taking any illegal substances.

Everyone seemed worried about her, friends and family alike. But the more they asked about her the less she wanted to talk about it. They didn't realize they were opening old wounds, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

The clock read three-fifteen when she dragged herself from the bathroom. She was supposed to be at work in four hours. Not having the heart to finish her studies just yet, she'd gotten a job as a substitute to keep from being kicked out of her apartment. Landlords tended to get grumpy if you didn't pay your rent, as she found from experience.

The kids probably thought she was some kind of addict. She was always getting distracted, forgetting names, confusing her schedule. At least she was only teaching Physical Education, a little confusion never ruined a gym class.

At least life was routine. There were no surprise attacks by rivals, no strange journeys, no deadly threats to Earth. Just going to work, coming home, eating ramen noodles, waking up in the middle of the night and watching infomercials until she had to work again.

She did think she'd found the secret to why the infomercials worked. If you were up in the early morning, watching infomercials, chances are you weren't happy with your life. You wanted something new, something different, something improved. Maybe a new set of ginsu knives would be fulfilling. At least you could use them to slit your wrists more cleanly.

The TV was calling to her silently. It looked so inviting, reflecting the view out the window on its screen, beckoning her to the comfortable sofa to rot her brain away with consumerism. You didn't have to think about anything while watching television; it did all the complex cognition for you.

But a closer look at the TV screen revealed it was snowing outside, and she wandered over to the tiny window to check. Thick iron bars, some sort of safety precaution, blocked the window supposedly, but she could just see out of it. It wasn't the dinky kind of flurry snow; it was the big wet kind that stuck to your eyelashes. The kind kids pray for the moment they see the first flakes. The kind that got school cancelled.

There was an inch or two on the rooftop next door already, and the plows wouldn't come around for at least two hours. That was plenty of time to let the lower layers freeze into a slick coating of slush. It looked like she and her students would be getting an unscheduled three-day weekend.

She lay down on the overstuffed couch to watch the Weather Channel and wait for the call that would tell her not to bother coming in to work. As a substitute she was far down on the snow list, but the telephone should still ring before six AM.

Only two and a half hours to waste.

The television was telling her that a cold front was sweeping through the Northeastern United States. Fifth grade meteorology told her that the Great Lakes would prevent most of the snow from reaching her, but they would still probably get a few inches of the stuff. Just enough to make her have to dig out the hand-me-down hunk of rusty metal she called her car if the bus companies decided they could get the kids to school after all.

She'd thought that when she left the Lin Kuei that she'd left a lot of her worries behind. Instead, she found herself worrying about lots of trivial things to make up for the fact she no longer worried about saving the Universe. Somehow worrying about her leaky toilet and whether or not the milk was okay to drink a few days after the sell by date just wasn't as satisfying.

Maybe the grass hadn't been greener on the other side.

The television was talking to her, telling her how to clear up her acne, how to cut through a hammer with a special kitchen knife, telling her that she could have the body she always wanted in eight weeks and all the money she'd ever dreamed of making if she would just give them her credit card number.

If only you could readily buy away your problems and make everything better.

She switched off the television in disgust. She didn't feel like being preyed upon this morning.

Her stomach was growling, but it felt like too much of an effort to crawl off of the couch and drag herself to the almost empty fridge. She knew the only things in there were a container of cold lo mein, a half drunk Mountain Dew, and a jar of mustard, none of which she wanted. No one was going to be delivering this early either.

Then she remembered the pint of Chubby Hubby in the freezer. It was her emergency PMS stash, but she could always replace it. Ben and Jerry's was worth getting off her lazy ass for.

She grabbed the heavy envelope that had arrived that morning as she passed the mail pile on the counter. The careful handwriting was recognizable immediately, even if there was no return address. She wasn't sure how Min had managed to get the letter in the mail though; he was still in the village researching the cataclysm of the tribe. It must have been sent with a messenger to Earthrealm.

He had written her more of a novella than a letter; the weight was just from the paper alone. Admittedly he had an awful lot to say; he'd finally cracked the older, formal script and was working on the inscription in the Traitor's Hall. Even his writing sounded excited.

From what he could gather, there had been some sort of civil war that had split the tribe. The tribe that remained were the former dredges of society who had rebelled and taken over when the aristocracy was off defending the village against an Outworld menace. The village wasn't always so secluded after all.

Min seemed to be happy. Apparently he'd been appointed some sort of official historian for the tribe after they'd learned what he'd done to save the realms. It wasn't the most honorable position in the world, but he wasn't living in a hovel anymore, and he actually got to eat something besides moss. She still owed him a food tour though; maybe she could convince him to visit once he finished transcribing the epitaphs on the warriors' tombs.

There was also a bit of news she had never expected. LiXue was getting married. The groom was to be her weapons instructor, an unlikely match for a woman of such high status, especially when the man in question was almost sixty. Wei wasn't too happy with the match, according to Min, but the deal had been that if LiXue took Frost to Earthrealm, she could marry whomever she wanted. Either her father hadn't expected her to return or he at least figured she'd choose someone else. But Min said LiXue looked a lot happier and spent a lot less time prowling the barracks now that the cat was out of the bag. She'd even invited the two of them to the wedding.

It was a tempting invitation, but not one she was sure she could accept. As much as she would love to see Min again, the trip to the village would take a week each way, even now that they knew the way. Outworld still wasn't a safe place to travel either, while the Tarkata were suppressed, there were rumors of Shao Kahn's return. Two and a half weeks of vacation time was a hard thing to get, even during the holiday season. Then again, the nice part about being a substitute is that she could always refuse to work.

Gaining access to a portal was also a bit of a challenge. The Lin Kuei had enough clout with Raiden to request a portal if needed, but she doubted if anyone would open one for her. If she was really desperate then she might be able to beg Kenshi to ask about an Outworld portal for her through the Outworld Investigation Agency, but that was a last resort. He had mentioned that they had finally fixed their portal generator, but they were less keen on sending out their agents after nearly losing two of their best. Then again, maybe Kenshi had been invited to the wedding, too. Who knew?

The phone startled her, breaking through her thoughts like an alarm. It looked like she'd have the rest of the day to decide on her plans.


	18. seventeen

The village was a lot more welcoming when a spear wasn't being shoved in her back. The frigid air was quite comfortable no matter how much Kenshi complained about it, and although the villagers didn't seem overjoyed to see her, she wasn't being treated like a side show act.

It was Kenshi who had approached her about attending the wedding, much to her surprise. Or at least she had been surprised until he revealed that his other option was to babysit one of the Outer world Investigation Agency's techs as they collected data about Outworld. Apparently the technician in question wasn't just blonde and perky, but had a rather obvious crush on the master swordsman.

It was with great relief that the two of them had parted ways with Cyrax and the the technician after coming through the same portal. Something about blondes just annoyed Frost to no end, especially those who thought they were prettier than her.

The trip to the village wasn't all that bad if you knew where you were going. The young Lin Kuei and the swordsman lapsed into a sort of comfortable silent, only making the few necessary comments for the journey. It was the kind of silence Frost preferred, without the chatter of Min or the stony silence of LiXue. There would be time enough for idle chitchat once they found the talkative scholar.

In a fairytale world, Min would have been gifted with an honorary title for his service to the village and the Universe, Meanwhile he would have been awarded a cushy job and the hand of some fair maiden for his troubles. Instead, their friend had been awarded more hard work for his efforts, but at least this as the kind of work that paid; and instead of heading towards the very edge of the village, they two comrades were heading towards Min's new abode in the main ring of houses.

Min was, of course, overjoyed to see them, acting more like a pulpy than a respectable historian. He looked healthier, less gaunt and with more color in his cheeks, but that could have been from his excited flush.

"I thought you would never get here," he said, ushering him into his modest home. "You're my first house guests," he added with a broad smile.

"It felt like we would never get here," Kenshi grumbled good naturedly, dusting the snow off his shoulders.

Frost carefully removed her traveling boots and laid them by the hearth to dry. "The trip wasn't that bad. We didn't run across a single Tarkatan," she said. "I just get sick of trail rations while on the road."

"Well, you''ll have plenty to eat tomorrow. It looks like they'll be enough food to feed the village twice over at the wedding," Min said. "I haven't seen anything like these preparations in the entire time I've lived here."

"The wedding of the century then," Kenshi said dryly.

"And then some. LiXue seems to be milking her father or all he's worth while she still considered his ward," Min added.

Frost smirked. "Good for her. The bastard deserves it." She looked around the main living space and her eyes fell on the pile of scrolls on Min's table. "So what have you been doing now that you're not saving the universe?"

"You mean aside from translating the tombs? I've been mostly working as a scribe. Wen has actually been sending out letters to other peoples." Min pointed to another stack of scrolls. "They're mostly form letters of a sort, but at least its something."

"Wen decided that the village couldn't stay hidden forever?" Kenshi asked.

Min nodded, "I think he's afraid that the battle for Outworld might eventually come to us."

"I don't think he'll have to worry about that for some time. From what the Agency found out , the Tarkata and Shao Kahn's men have basically been scattered. It looks like things might actually be peaceful for awhile. " Kenshi said.

"Don't jinx us," Frost chided him playfully.

"Yeah, how will I get my work done with Tarkatan wandering around?" Min asked.

Kenshi snorted. "I, for one, am looking forwards a few battles. All the Agency seems to be doing is research. You can't keep your skills sharp while 'guarding' some silly researcher. They tend to get nervous if you unsheathe your weapon."

"Oh I don't know, " Frost smirked, "I think the little blonde would have been quite happy to have your pull out your 'katana'."

"For Min's sake, I'll let that one go by," Kenshi said with a yawn. "That and I'm too tired to come up with an appropriate retort."

Frost glanced out the window at the darkening sky. "What are you, an old man? It's not that late."

"Maybe not, but wandering around in knee deep snow for fourteen days has tired me out. Some of us aren't actually cold-blooded like you." Kenshi smirked. "And I can tell you're giving me a dirty look, so stop it."

Ignoring Frost's pouting, Min began the preparations to turn his main living room into guest quarters.

Frost had never seen so much silver in her life. Every villager showed up in the village square in their finery, which consisted of so much jewelry that she was surprised some of them could remain upright. The other consistency in their dress were the colors blue and black, making the crowd of them look like some sort of dark ocean wave as the crowd milled about, sunlight glancing off of earrings and hair decorations.

She felt mildly under dressed in her traveling clothes, but frankly she doubted that anyone cared what she was wearing, so long as she was wearing something. It wasn't her wedding, after all.

LiXue, on the other hand, was a brilliant whirl of sparkling jewelry, so much that her clothing was completely covered except for her daintily embroidered slippers. Min had explained that most of it was her dowry, and the whole celebration was just a show of wealth, but Frost couldn't help but feel the diminutive warrior had gone a little overboard with her wedding out of revenge.

If there was one person in the village that Frost would have picked out as the one person LiXue wouldn't seem likely to marry, the groom would have been it. While he was a stately, old gentleman, Frost just couldn't see the two of them together. Maybe he was more lively in the training halls or elsewhere. The wedding wasn't exactly making her spritely either.

The two who seemed most animated were LiXue for obvious reasons, and Wen, who was smirking at Wu in a decidedly non-age-appropriate manner. All the elders seemed rather pleased with how matters had turned out, although Min had to translate their gratefulness to Frost, but Wen took a sadistic pleasure in congratulating the father of the bride on his new son-in-law. Maybe the old bitch wasn't so bad after all.

Min leaned over to Frost and whispered conspiratorially, "Is it me, or does it seem like the elders planned this mess all along?"

"I'm trying very hard not to think about it actually. The idea of being played by a bunch of old farts isn't overly appealing." Frost grimaced. "At least it seems to have turned out for the better. You're happy, LiXue is happy. Wen is a miserable son of a bitch, but we knew that already. The village is finally learning its own history. The universe is saved. Happy ending, hurray."

"Well, I didn't get a happy ending," Kenshi interrupted. "I'm still working for less pay than I should at the Agency."

"True, but you're not half-dead and stuck in Outworld being chased by blood thirsty Tarkata," Frost pointed out. "Beggars can't be choosers after all."

"Well what about you, you don't seem overjoyed at all this," Kenshi asked, with a nod from Min.

"I think I fall under the beggar category. I'm not dead, and I'm not stuck in Outworld, and I have to say thats a lot better than where I was when I started this little adventure." She sighed. "If this were a story, I'd definitely want a few words with the author on the 'happy ending'."

"I'd give you a pep talk about how we're supposed to be writing our own destiny, but I don't believe most of that crap," Kenshi replied.

"You believe in predestination?" Min asked, one eyebrow raised.

"No, but I believe that sometimes you have to do the best you have with what you've been given." Kenshi paused for a moment. "I guess what I mean is that you can't always change everything, and sometimes what's already happened prevents some things in the future."

"That's kind of morbid," Frost remarked.

"I'm just being realistic. For example, I'm blind because I did something stupid. No matter what I do now, I'm still going to be blind in the future," Kenshi touched his blindfold carefully. "God knows what I'd do to change that, but sometimes you just can't change some things in life. I'm just going to have to work with it and move on with my life."

"You're not very good at pep talks, are you?" Frost asked.

"What? 'Do the best you can with what you have.' I'd say that was fairly positive," replied Kenshi. "Or at least as positive as I get."

Frost just sighed. It was good advice, of course, but something about it just didn't sit right with her. Most of the lessons she had to teach was along the lines of "You can do anything if you put your mind to it." Which she admitted was silly when a five foot two fat kid decided he was going to play in the NBA, but believing she was boxed in by past mistakes sounded like a very boring way to live.

"You turning philosophical on us?" Min asked with a slight smirk.

"No. Just depressed."

"You're thinking about going back to the Lin Kuei, aren't you?" said Kenshi.

Frost scratched at the back of her head. "Yeah," she said quietly. "I don't think it's such a good idea though."

"Well, Sub-Zero was a little grumpy, but he wasn't exactly an ogre," Kenshi shrugged.

"That's just great coming from Mr. If-You-Fucked-Up-Your-Stuck," Frost said.

"Hey, you won't know if that path is blocked until you try it, right?" Min interrupted. "Could it really hurt to try."

"Yes," Frost said, deadpan. "I'll be walking into a temple full of assassins. Possibly angry assassins. And I'll be talking to the leader of the angry assassins who I tried to steal from. It could hurt a great deal."

"Will you be happy if you don't try?" Kenshi asked.

There was another long pause. "No," Frost said finally.

"Then maybe a little pain is worth it."


	19. eighteen

The incessant shivering wasn't from the cold. In fact, trying to forge a path through waist deep snow-drifts was making her sweat, but the sub-zero temperate causing the droplets to freeze and crack on her skin.

Several times she almost turned back, telling herself that it was too much work. If she returned home she'd have a warm apartment, a job and some certainty, even if it was just the fact that every day she'd do the same, boring drudgery.

Another gust of wind blew the fine, powdery snow in her face and she tried to blink the flakes out of her eyes. The only thing she was sure of on her current path was that she sincerely wished the Lin Kuei had built their headquarters somewhere in the Carribean.

She glanced around at the barren, snow-covered plain with cliffs in the distance. In a way it reminded her of the frozen village in Outworld. The bitter cold also kept out unwelcome visitors just as well. Maybe it was some sort of ancestral memory that made Sub-Zero insist on building in the middle of nowhere.

_Am I an unwelcome visitor?_ she thought to herself. She shivered again, hard. There was some comfort to be found in the fact that she hadn't been hunted down and slaughtered in her own home, but she hadn't exactly received an invitation back either. They might not even care what happened to her.

A sudden thought flickered in her mind. One of the far-ranging scouts must have spotted her, yet no one approached to either eliminate or escort her. A mistake as big as hers would have made her infamous, and just the fact she was on foot would have given her identity away in moments to any veteran clan member.

Momentary panic seized her. Maybe they moved the headquarters. Maybe she was struggling through a blizzard to an abandoned fortress.

_Maybe you should shut up_, she told the panicking part of her brain. There would be no ranged scouts in a blizzard; the teams would have taken refuge as soon as the weather looked to turn dangerous. In fact, the only member who would have been sent out in such extreme conditions was trudging her way towards headquarters.

Another glance at the mountain range in the distance did not find them noticeably closer. It was slow going at best, and the blizzard would probably run its course before she got within range of the temple.

On one hand, they would know she was coming and could drive her away. On the other hand, did she really want to surprise a potentially hostile enclave of highly trained warriors?

"This is the last time I listen to Kenshi or Min," she grumbled, pushing forward through another drift.

No one in their right mind would attempt to scale the ice-coated cliffs protecting the Frozen Temple. Then again, it took a special kind of crazy to voluntarily join a warrior clan. To Frost, however, the ice was a boon, not an obstacle.

Her bare fingertips dug into a tiny crevice in the rock-face. A thin film of ice on her skin adhered to the frozen stone, then broke off as she pulled away to reach for another handhold.

One mistake would be fatal, but she climbed with single-minded determination, purposely keeping her face to the sky and not the sharp stone fragments and ice shards littering the ground below.

She had been climbing all day, and with the sunset she was only now within reach of the peak. Each muscle shrieked at her to stop, but there was no rest to be had until she reached the flat ground before the climb down.

When she finally scrambled over the final ledge, she didn't have the strength to do anything but lay flat on her back and pant. Her thigh muscle twitched visibly whenever she attempted to sit up, so she contented herself with the thought that anyone who managed to climb up would be too tired to attack her. In any case, the visibility was still so bad that they would likely trip over her prone body before seeing it.

Her eyes felt as heavy as lead, and she contemplated the pros and cons of getting some sleep. Her body quickly overruled her rational decision making and she was asleep before she finished deciding it would be a bad idea.

She actually spotted the scout before he caught sight of her. He was actually just a blotch of color against the still falling snow, but when he stopped suddenly and retreated just as quickly, she knew he had gone to sound the alarm.

The angry muscles in her legs protested as she struggled up from her perch on the tiny ledge, but she didn't want to be trapped if she was decided to be an intruder. Her precautions weren't necessary, because when her feet touched solid ground again, she was still in solitude.

The temple and its grounds loomed before her and despite her relief at finally arriving, she couldn't bring herself to take even another step forward.

No one was out on the practice fields, all of the clan were holed up inside for the durations of what turned out to be an unusually long blizzard. Nothing lay between her and the Lin Kuei but several hundred yards of snow and ice.

Climbing back over the cliffs began to have a certain appeal. The shivering started again.

"I have to do this," she said to the empty, frigid air.

She took a tentative step forward, suddenly unsure of her own footing on the ice. "I have to do this," she repeated, moving forward again.

Trembling too much to hide anymore, she finally came face to face with the fantastically carved, double doors. She wondered briefly, and a little hysterically, if she should knock.

A few minutes later she began to entertain the thought in earnest. They had to know she was there, right?

The minutes rolled by in monotony, and finally she gave in and banged on one of the doors with her fists.

There was no response. Now there was no doubt that they knew she was there. They were ignoring her.

Between the shivering, she fumed. Of all the scenarios she imagined, including several worst cases, this was not one of them. Logically, she knew she should just be disappointed and perhaps sad, but instead she was almost unreasonably angry. She had, after all, just trudged for miles and miles in a blizzard. The least they could do was tell her to go the hell away.

She beat on the door again. "Hey, answer me, you fuckers!"

Silence again. "I'm not leaving here until one of you assholes answers." She crossed her arms and waited.

And waited.

It was long past midnight before she finally heard a slight creaking coming from the door hinges.


	20. nineteen

Waiting was the hardest part, wasn't it?

The grandmaster's office was enormous and in sharp contrast to the audience chamber, it was lavishly furnished in the western style. Unable to force herself to have a seat in one of the chairs facing the ornately carved desk, she found herself pacing in the empty floor space between the furniture and the door.

For a few minutes, she wondered if she was going to be left there, alone, all night but the last time she looked up Sifu was sitting in his seat, calmly regarded her with a cold stare that immediately triggered her fight or flight response. Against her better judgment, she automatically sat across from him, avoiding his gaze. He barely reacted to her, just a slight shuffle as he rearranged some paper in front of him. A quick glance revealed that it was a file on her and although she couldn't read it upside-down the big, red paragraph at the top was probably not very flattering.

When she was sure that his eyes were on the paper and not her, she risked a look up. The deep creases in his forehead as he frowned made him look even older than normal. There was a hint of weariness in the way his shoulders drooped a mere centimeter from perfect posture.

Without warning, his eyes snapped up and Frost felt herself freeze in place. Although it was just a stern look, she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he was channeling some of his fa jing.

He remained silent, letting his unvoiced anger hang in the air.

She would have preferred if he had said anything. Even a furious rant about her stupidity would have been less torturous than letting her imagination run wild on what he was thinking.

After what seemed like an eternity in silent purgatory, he finally spoke. Although he spoke calmly, rationally, his voice dripped with a heavy mixture of barely contained fury and disappointment. "Do you have any idea what the consequences of your actions are?"

She recognized the tone. It was the exact tone her father used when she was lectured on skipping the PSATs in order to see the exhibit on neurological diseases at the local university. In fact, as she reflected on it, she was almost positive that he had used the same opening as well. She swallowed the near instinctual urge to tear up in the hopes of reducing her punishment and swallowed audibly. "Yes, I'm well aware of how utterly stupid I was," she said, letting out a little more of her frustration than she meant to.

It took a moment to realize what had occurred, but the sting on the left side of her face was impossible to ignore. He had slapped her, not with the intent to do any permanent damage, she knew he could break her jaw if she wanted, but hard enough that she could feel her teeth ache. She blinked back the automatic tears and indignant reaction and remained silent.

"When I returned her, the clan was mutinous. A few days later and there would have been a civil war." Despite his earlier physical outburst, his words were clipped and even.

She imagined it was like being trapped in a room with an angry viper. She kept still and quiet, trying to keep from provoking another outburst.

"Do you know how many people would have died? Not to mention the fact that you nearly killed us both." He fixed her with a stare that was so frosty it felt like it was burning. "I thought you had managed to kill yourself."

The following silence was expectant.

"I'm sorry?" she said quietly.

The silence continued.

"I won't do it again?"

It was quiet, but she could have sworn that she heard him sigh.

"What do you want me to say?" she asked blankly, knowing full well that he wasn't going to answer.

He was pointedly ignoring her and reading the file again. She watched him dejectedly for a few moments before she realized that his eyes hadn't moved down the page at all.

She could hear the lin kuei on guard duty slowing down as they passed the office and felt a little better knowing that their eavesdropping wasn't going to be in vain. She hadn't taken the time to consider what the other lin kuei would be saying about her return. The brutal rumors had followed her even when she had been in good standing with the clan, no doubt she would be on the lips of every recruit in the morning.

The Grandmaster was still waiting for some sort of response from her, although now he wasn't even pretending to read. A normal man would have probably grown bored with her and thrown her out, but she knew her sifu and his incredible patiences. A lin kuei recruit was taught to patiently wait hours to complete their mission and he could sit there for days until he got what he wanted.

_But what does he want? _Her earlier apology had been half-assed, but she wasn't sure that he wasn't a tear filled apology. It probably wouldn't hurt, but she had hurt him more than just physically. He'd probably require her to publicly apologize to everyone else, but that wasn't what he wanted now.

With a sigh of her own, she stood up and let the chair screech slightly on the stone floor. Sub-Zero's eyes shot up but his expression was unreadable. "I don't know what you want me to say," she said. "This is just a waste of both of our time." It was an obvious bluff, but she was getting desperate. She spun smartly on her heel and started for the door, walking as slowly as she could without obviously stalling for time.

He let her get all the way to the door and had the handle half-way turned before he spoke. "So you're just going to go back to America?" he said with a hint of bitterness.

"No, but I don't need to spend all night having a staring contest with you," she turned to look over her shoulder at him. "Unless you're going to suddenly tell me what you want from me."

She could have sworn there was a hint of a smile on his lips. "No. Be ready at dawn, you have a lot to do."


	21. twenty

She threw the dagger before she was even fully awake. It rebounded off the far wall and shattered on the floor, leaving a thousand tiny pieces glittering in the moonlight. For a moment she could only stare at the ice shards in surprise, but she didn't get a chance to mull over it.

"You're not that out of practice, are you?" Sareena asked with a low laugh.

"It's four a.m., give me a break," Frost moaned. She resisted the urge to toss something heavy now that she was certain of the she-demon's location, but it hardly seemed worth the effort. Besides, she did owe Sareena one, so she settled for flinging her pillow. "Why are you bothering me?"

Sareena feigned an innocent expression. "I just thought you'd appreciate a wake-up call. You wouldn't want to be late and disappoint the Grandmaster, would you?" She perched herself on the foot of the bed and examined her talon like fingernails. "At least not anymore than you already have," she added with a smirk.

With a loud sigh, Frost yanked the covers over her head. So the she-demon just wanted to needle her. Not that she was expecting anything else out of Sareena. "It doesn't take me an hour to get ready. Is there anything else?" As a teacher, she knew that the best way to deal with a bully was to avoid reacting at all. Don't give a bully a response and they will eventually grow bored and find another victim.

The sheets rustled and the entire bed moved as Sareena jumped up. "Well, if you don't want my advice, I'll leave you to your beauty sleep. You definitely need it."

Frost rolled her eyes. There was no doubt in her mind that she didn't want Sareena's advice, but it probably wasn't a good idea to alienate the only other person besides sifu who wanted to talk to her. And if there was anyone in the temple who knew of any tid-bits of info she should know, it would be the resident gossip-queen. She pulled the blankets down just far enough for her eyes to peek out. "What is it?" she asked, sharply enunciating every word.

"What is it?" Sareena parroted back. "You know, I'm just trying to help around here, but everyone keeps giving me shit.

"Here's an idea," Frost growled, "if you didn't wake people up at the ass-crack of dawn, they probably wouldn't throw things at you. So what exactly is so important that it couldn't wait until daylight."

"The best secrets are told in the dark," Sareena said with her predator's smile. "And I think you'll find these to be particularly pertinent."

"Pertinent? Did you have to look that up in the dictionary before you came here?" Frost was really beginning to regret not throwing Sareena out. "So what is so 'pertinent' to my morning training?"

"I'm sure you remember your little trip to the Netherealm, right?" Sareena waited until her audience was finished shuddering to continue. "And you remember our little fight before we escaped, and therefor our opponents."

"Yes, can you get on with it, please?" The sadistic glee with which Sareena was dragging it out was making Frost's stomach twist in uncomfortable ways..

"So you remember our opponents," Sareena didn't even bother waiting for a response this time. "Do you remember the little conversation we had about your sifu's family?"

For a moment, Frost's world came to a screeching halt as she connected the mental dots. "For the love of Christ, Sareena, please tell me you're not going where I think you're going with this." But the grin on the she-demon's face said it all.

"Never has the term 'black sheep' been more appropriate," Sareena continued. "I had seen Noob Saibot around the Brotherhood of the Shadow, but I never made the connection until I heard him speak. Quan Chi had gotten his revenge it seems."

_Noob Saibot_...It was an odd name, but she had no idea whether that was his real name or a pseudonym. So sifu's brother had been turned into some kind of demon. A demon that was quite happy to turn on his little brother and tear him into pieces. "Did the Grandmaster recognize him?"

The answer was so quick that Frost wondered if Sareena already knew what she was going to ask. "As easily as I did."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence as Frost pondered the idea. She was having trouble putting herself in her sifu's shoes. Plenty of people in her family had died while she was growing up, but she was fairly certain that none of them were going to come back as creatures of the darkness. "Sareena, what exactly does it take to become a demon? Aside from the whole dying and going to the Netherealm part."

"A history of cruelty and little or no remorse for your past transgressions," Sareena answered blithely. "Let's just say that the older Sub-Zero was one of the finest of the Lin Kuei. He had probably committed atrocities that you probably wouldn't even dream of and he didn't lose even a wink of sleep over them. It probably didn't help that he was an over-confident, self-congratulating bastard about it."

"He sounds like he was a great guy," Frost shot back sarcastically. "No wonder you seemed fond of him."

Sareena just shrugged. "I am a she-demon, after all." Her wicked smile came back. "But I didn't tell you the best part of all this."

"What, Sifu's daddy was a puppy-kicker and his mom ate babies?" Frost asked.

"I don't know about his mother, but his dad was just as bad as his offspring. But that's not what I was going to tell you. The cyber's name was Smoke, and he was also a former Lin Kuei."

"Sifu isn't really popular with the old school Lin Kuei, is he?" Frost observed.

"No, no he isn't. It seems that there was a movement a while back within the Lin Kuei to automate their members so they wouldn't have to worry about the whole 'conscience' and 'self-preservation' issues. A certain someone wasn't pleased with the 'soulless killing machine' idea and made a run for it when his number was up. So the former Grandmaster sent three cybers after Sub-Zero. Cyrax, who you know. Sektor, who I will bring up again in a minute. And Smoke, who was Sub-Zero's former best friend."

Frost winced. The more Sareena told her, the less she wanted to know. "So his brother and his buddy are both trying to kill him."

"It gets even better. Sektor was the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei before Sub-Zero. After getting his shiny metal ass handed to him by your sifu, he formed his own clan of automated ninja. He's been gaining members rapidly from the ranks of the disgruntled Lin Kuei, whether they want to join or not. He plans to incorporate all the current members of the clan as well, right after he destroys the Grandmaster."

"So everyone is trying to kill Sifu." As sick as it sounded, she clung to her concise summary because the overload of information was making her head spin. "And you felt the need to tell me all of this right now, because...?"

"You wanted to patch things up with the Grandmaster, right?" Sareena spoke slowly to her like she were a three-year-old.

"Yes, but what does this have to do with me?" asked Frost.

"What was one of the last things Noob Saibot did?"

"I wasn't aware there was going to be a pop-quiz." But Sareena just glared at her. "Fine. He stole Shinnok's amulet."

"And what happened to him?" Sareena prompted her.

"He turned into a demon."

"Very good," Sareena said, ignoring the dirty look. "And who is Sektor and what is he doing?"

Even Frost's groggy brain could see where Sareena was leading her now. "A former Lin Kuei who is creating automated clan members from disgruntled Lin Kuei." Still, she let Sareena finish.

"And what does this have to do with you?"

"I'm an over-confident, disgruntled, former Lin Kuei with a displayed willingness to attack Grandmaster Sub-Zero, who stole an amulet, wound up in the Netherealm after 'death', and went missing for an extended period of time." She pulled the blankets back over her head. It was going to take forever to get back on Sub-Zero's good side.

"Sub was really worried that you'd turn up as a cyber," Sareena added. "I'm actually a little surprised that he didn't send a team out to drag you back here."

_That makes two of us. _"I expected one to show up at my door late one night. Although I was more concerned about being brutally murdered than being brought back here."

Sareena snorted. "With any other Grandmaster, you would have been eliminated within hours. Unless. of course, it was Sektor. Then you would have been automated." She seemed to be taking great delight in telling Frost what her fate could have been. "The only reason he probably didn't send a retrieval squad after you is he'd have to explain it to the other masters."

"So, no one else around here knows why I left?" Frost asked hopefully.

"Only those who Sub-Zero implicitly trusts...and those of us who are good eavesdroppers," Sareena smirked. "Apparently it's not usual for cocky little students to try and defeat their masters. It's just that you picked an extraordinarily inappropriate time and place to do it. An extraordinarily devious and brilliant time and place to do it, but inappropriate nonetheless."

The backhanded compliment took her completely by surprise. "Brilliant?"

"No witnesses, an entire realm to dump the body in, no way for the other Lin Kuei to find out until is was too late, element of surprise," Sareena ticked off the facts on her fingers. "I'm sure your sifu would be proud if it hadn't been humiliating for him and distressful to watch you turn yourself into an ice sculpture."

_It was humiliating and distressful to be turned into an ice sculpture too. _"Well, I had been planning it for awhile," she replied and stifled a yawn. If she kicked Sareena out now, she could probably sneak in another fifteen minutes of sleep. "So what was the advice you wanted to give me?"

"Don't do it again."

"What?"

"Don't do it again," Sareena said emphatically. "You _were_ being groomed to follow in Sub-Zero's footsteps and if you hadn't been a greedy bitch, you would have gotten what you wanted with a hell of a lot less stress."

"Which isn't going to do me much good _now_," Frost said.

"That's where your sifu's most endearing personality traits and weaknesses comes in."

"And that would be?"

"His almost sickening belief in a person's ability to change and his willingness to forgive just about anything."


	22. twentyone

When she had finally regained enough of her senses to try and stand up, the blood was already causing her face to stick to the frozen, stone floor. She gingerly touched her lips and her fingers came back completely crimson.

Sub-Zero was giving her a look that was a curious mix of disgust and concern as she tipped her head forward and pinched the bridge of her nose despite the pain so the blood wouldn't run down her throat. "I'mb soddy, sifu," she said, after testing her teeth with her tongue to make sure they were all still there. "Sabenna wode be ud ah four dis moding."

Her eyes searched the plain floor of the practice hall for her mask, but the Grandmaster caught her gaze with a slightly guilty look and handed her a fist full of blue pieces. It was so completely destroyed that she only recognized it by what was left of the ornate embossing. "Werd you dying to kilb be?"

"I assumed you would have seen it coming from a mile away," he said, not quite meeting her eyes. "Or thought you would have done something besides stand there and let me sucker punch you in the face."

She hacked up a wad of blood and let go of her nose. "I wasn't all quite here yet, otherwise I would have ducked." The blood was still trickling over her top lip, but the last thing she wanted to do was seem weak now. What was left of her mask was tossed off to the side, wiped the blood onto her pants, and she settled back into a fighting stance.

Seconds later she was on her back and looking up into her sifu's "Did You Forget Everything I Taught You?" face. She took the offerred hand and slowly got back into position again. While it was true that she hadn't been practicing as diligently away from the Temple, she couldn't place all the blame on lack of studying. And it would be quite simple to distract her sifu just as badly.

"So, what Sareena woke me up this morning to tell me was a little clan history." She dodged a straight punch (not aimed at her face this time, she noted) and aimed a low falling kick at Sub-Zero's shins. "Why is your brother trying to kill you?"

A few moments later she was halfway laying against the far wall and gasping for breath. "If you put half as much effort into your fighting as you did into running your mouth off, you'd have no problem defeating me," Sub-Zero said. After a few seconds he came over to crouch next to her. "And, to answer your question, he's a demon now."

He towered over her even huddled down, almost completely engulfing her in shadow. She looked up at his broad form and briefly wondered if she should be taunting the man who was wiping the floor with her. Sareena had probably known that she couldn't resist the urge to throw his family history into his face. She ignored his jibe and concentrated on his answer. "So what's it like to have a demon in the family?"

"Not much different than having to deal with you everyday," he answered wryly. "I have to keep my eyes open for trouble, but I'm not overly worried about it."

"I'm not a security threat to you?" Somehow it was more insulting than a relief. Being under lock and key wasn't her goal, but being dismissed that easily stung. _Of course with the way you're fighting this morning..._

She got another long suffering sigh. "Despite the occasional lapse in judgment, you're not an idiot. It would be sincerely unwise to attack me in my own domain. I may be lenient with you, but very few others here will be."

The blood under her nose was beginning to flake and itch. "You call this lenient?" she asked, feeling her ribs to make sure they weren't broken.

"It's not my fault you are fighting like a novice," he said with a shrug before rising to his feet. "I assure you, if I wanted to punish you I could have come up with far more painful ways to do it. Now are you going to actually fight me or just be my punching bag?"

"Can I just lay here and make fun of you instead?" Her abdominal muscles protested as she fought to sit up; he must have caught her right in the gut."It will probably end the same way and we neither of us will have to waste any energy."

He crossed his arms and drummed his fingers on his bicep. "You're not giving up already, are you? I have other training to oversee if you're done for the day."

With a grunt, she managed to sit up straight. "I didn't think you dealt with daily training."

"I do when I have reason to. There's a intermediate who seems to have quite a bit of unharnessed power. With some advanced training, he'll turn out nicely. Unfortunately there's no one else to teach him to harness the kori powers except myself." He paused, then added, "If all you're going to do is collapse and hurl insults, I can work with him instead."

"You're replacing me," she said accusingly. A rush of indignation filled her. "I hauled myself across half a continent to get to this frozen hell-hole, and you're replacing me."

There was the sigh again. "Replacing you as the thorn in my side?"

The rush of anger ebbed just as quickly as it came. Replacing her as what exactly? Student? Apprentice? Grandmaster-in-Training? What had he intended for her. Sareena had said he was grooming her to take his title, but was he really? Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he hadn't intended her to ever have the Dragon Amulet. Maybe he knew she couldn't handle it. Maybe she was just a student.

He was still waiting expectantly for her to respond, but she couldn't seem to formulate an answer. "I don't know, what was I?" she finally asked, craning her neck to look all the way up to his face. "What am I supposed to be?"

"At the moment you appear to be a punching bag," he answered.

"That's not what I meant," she said with a sigh. She carefully felt the still bleeding gash on her face. The blood froze on the tips her fingers in seconds, turning them dark red in contrast with the rest of her pale skin. "Maybe it was a mistake to come back after all."

Sub-Zero was silent, still towering over her like a sentinel.

"Go take care of your new student," she sighed, waving him away with her blood-stained hands.

After a minute, he finally turned to go. Just as he reached the door, he looked over his shoulder at her and she saw the look again. It was the same one he had in the office. It was expectant and sad and put a sour taste in her mouth.

She knew what he wanted. She knew what he wanted in the office too.

Her hands were stained with her blood. His blood. Her friends' blood. It was more than too late to wash her hands of everything and pretend to lead a normal life..

"Sifu, wait!" It was quite painful, but she managed to get to her feet and start towards him "I'm ready now."

He raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but said nothing.

"I know it can't be like it was before, and I don't really blame you for not trusting me, but I'll make it up somehow. Obviously I shouldn't have tried to gank the amulet, but I am sorry about that, and not just because I froze my ass. I mean, Sareena explained why what I did was wrong on so many levels, and if I had known about the Tekunin and Smoke and your brother, I wouldn't have just hung around feeling sorry for myself. I didn't mean to send anyone into a panic, I was just a little embarrassed to come back here, because I'm sure there's been rumors and stuff going around. And now it looks like my kori powers are coming back and-"

He put a frozen hand on her shoulder. "You really do talk too much."

"I was trying to apologize," she protested.

"That only takes two words," he replied.

She managed to keep herself from rolling her eyes. "Okay, I'm sorry."

"I know." He squeezed her shoulder slightly. "I forgive you."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"I trudged my ass over four realms, four countries and I don't know how many miles of snow, and you're telling me I could have just called you on the phone or sent you a letter or something and been forgiven?" she asked indignantly.

He shook his head. "Of course not. It wouldn't have been sincere. And you certainly wouldn't have been humbled by the experience.

"So this whole mess was penance, then?"

"You could think of it that way." There was a slight curve of smile at the corner of his mouth. "I could have done without the part where I was nearly murdered though."

_I could have done without a lot of it. _"So am I absolved then?"

"Do I look like the pope?" He shrugged. "But at least now you have the chance to make up for it."


End file.
